Soothe The Electric Shocks
by ClosetCase
Summary: Tired of running, hiding in fear of the Paladin's, two Jumpers set off to put an end to it all; to join other jumpers in the war. Of course they never realised the best way to win was by joining up with a mood swinging Brit with bad social skills.
1. Pologue

Disclaimer: I do **not** own Jumper, or Jamie Bell but I guarantee you when I do you probably won't see them again as they'll be locked in my basement (or room) whichever works... :D  
I do own May Lancaster and Alan Cameron, oh and any other Jumpers I might add in later...

So I've been watching Jumper nonestop on DVD since I got it for my birthday and now I just can't help but write a fanfiction, I mean Jamie Bell is just one sexy man and that accent of his is mind blowing haha. Best description for now.  
So I hope you all like this and it isn't too bad, let me know what you think but don't be too harsh :)

* * *

The sound of water running could be heard through the large apartment, a humming melody dancing with the droplets of water that cascaded out from the shower tap.  
Underneath and behind the shower curtain was a young nineteen year old female, singing into a bar of soap that would be an embarrassing situation to be found in had she not been inside her own home.  
Chuckling under her breath her clean sun kissed hand reached out to grasp the knob, changing the water from on to off in a quick instance.  
She continued humming quietly as she grabbed the white fluffy towel off the counter and wrapped it around her body, reaching for another one to dry her long hair.  
At times she thought it would be easier to just cut it all off but reminded herself it was only down to her C bust and that wasn't as long as it could have been.  
Finishing with towelling her multicoloured hair she slid open the bathroom door and stepped out into the emptiness of her apartment.  
She lived alone something that bothered her quietly but also set her free to do whatever she wanted.  
She had no restrictions and loved to live freely, of course that was becoming a pain when a few certain people wearing black trench coats even in the heat of Miami began showing up.  
Slipping through her living room to get to her bedroom she turned on the large plasma television and paused to watch the news, taking in the scene of a large disaster flood.  
It was the second one in the time span of three months, something that occurred to her in a matter of seconds.  
Rolling her hazel eyes when the reporter came on about needing a miracle she began walking again, freezing when she heard the floorboards creak in her house.

"Your quick" She heard in a matter of seconds as she vanished from her position to reappear in her bedroom.

In a rush she began grabbing her clothes, the first thing she could before her door was kicked open.  
Turning around slowly in her towel that only held its position by her tightening hand she spotted the unfamiliar face of a dark skinned man with a strange occurrence of white hair.

"Did you walk through a chalk board?" She blanked until she spotted the contents of his hand.

On panic mode she felt herself falling backwards again, wind and colors swirling about her as her body teleported to another smaller apartment.  
Hitting the ground with a loud thump she scrambled to upturn herself, running as fast as she could down the hallway and sliding into her best friend's room.  
She found him asleep as usual, arm turned over his face as his back twisted into a pretzel.  
His short brown hair wasn't long enough thankfully to stick out in odd directions but it still looked a bit frizzy.  
Running to his side she pushed away his arm and slapped on his face, grinning with accomplishment when his brown eyes blearily opened.

"Better have a good excuse" He yawned rolling over to stuff his face back into the pillow of his overtaking bed.

"Paladins" She answered simply and watched as he rolled out of bed and began screaming at her in Japanese, flapping his thin arms about as he puffed.

"Listen," She continued trying to calm him down, "I need to change then we have to get out of here, I don't want them finding my jump scar"

He calmed slightly as the worry faded from his skin, his grandfather had taught him to always keep his head unfortunately however he never found himself taking those lessons to heart.  
Moving around his small room he began changing, flinging on his pale cream long sleeved shirt and then a maroon one over top to keep himself warm.  
He was forced to wiggle into his jeans as his once slim figure was now getting quite the work out from all their running and fighting.  
Rubbing at jaw he stopped to look in the mirror, noticing an earring missing from its place in his left earlobe.  
Hands scrambled down to find the missing object as his friend shed her towel across from him and slipped on her undergarments, followed by a short blue sundress and black tights.

"I couldn't grab any shoes, think I'll need any?"

"We'll just skip to Grandpa's" He shrugged still having trouble locating the jewellery.

Sighing she moved over to his sighed and swung an arm over his shoulder, grabbing a tiny ring that slide through his ear with ease, "This it?"

"Thanks May" He chuckled taking the offered earring.

"Listen I don't know who this Paladin was, but he looked like a big time guy. Black, white hair, ring any bells?"

"Nope, we'll check it out later though" He answered, grabbing a backpack he had handy in case they were ever in this type of situation.

Standing face to face May tilted her head to the side slightly and stared at her Asian friend, chuckling lightly when he vanished in thin air with a single jump.  
Taking a lasting glance around the room she felt a pull at her heart before jumping through her friends scar, hoping that they wouldn't be traced.  
When they arrived together on the streets of Hong Kong a familiar presence casted over them, lingering as they jumped a third time to a quieter home garden that had been resurrected by his grandmother in Tokyo, Japan.  
He led his shorter friend along the pebble stones and up to the sliding backdoor, ushering them inside when she took wary glances outside.  
It wasn't often they jumped straight to a family members home but they were cautious by jumping a few more times before landing in the quiet garden, hoping that would be enough.  
Inside all was quiet and May was reassured by her friend just saying his grandpa was out, for some reason she felt she knew better than this though and began looking around.

"Hey May you want something to eat?" A sleepy voice asked from the kitchen.

"Hey Alan how come you got all Americanized by your mom instead of your brothers?" May called from the living room where she found photographers of her friend and his family together.

"Cause after the divorce mom took me to America and dad kept everyone else here"

"I meant the name" She teased now hooking an arm with him as he appeared beside her.

"Want some coffee? My eyes are sealing shut" he yawned.

"Sounds good" She nodded and teleported them both back into the kitchen, watching as he prepared the pot.

Glancing around at some of the tradition statues along with family treasures inside the home May couldn't help but miss the feeling of entering her parents home, "I think it's time we took them out Chou"

Turning to look at the sound of his nickname he found the 5'7" female staring intently at her feet only clad in the tights she was wearing.

"Then I think it's time we took up some help"


	2. Caller ID says fuck off

Disclaimer: Don't own Jumper, but Griffin is seriously one of the hottest psychotic antisocial 'marvel team up for a limited time' characters and I wouldn't mind paying continuously through the year if it meant I got to own him... sadly however my monthly paments won't work. yet.  
I do own May and Alan, and any other Jumpers I probably will be throwing into the mix.

* * *

"Yeah well I don't speak fucking crazy so slow it down!" The Asian nineteen year old yelled at the elder woman who had been trying to sell him something for the past ten minutes.

"Hurry it up Chou; we have to get out of here!" May hissed from behind her much taller friend, tugging on his sleeve to get him moving.

Grunting in frustration he turned to follow after her, allowing her to lead them safely across the street while the woman began following them again.

"She's been chasing us the past six blocks, May, that's a new record somewhere in the world" Alan sighed heavily as his knuckles clenched.

"I know but we have to deal with it and get to the hotel" She answered back plainly, looking back and forth for any vehicles in her way.

Dodging cars in the streets of Taiwan was rather easy as the traffic wasn't too large at nine in the evening.  
When Alan had asked why they jumped to Taiwan he had been answered with a simple '_We're looking for Jumpers right?_" which was enough to get him to play follow the leader.  
Alan wasn't much of a leader and hardly took charge, sure he had a temper that could get out of hand much like anyone else but he just didn't have it in him to lead others.  
He was more of the simple minded like, often taking orders without much backtalk and doing the dirty deeds when no one else stepped up to the plate.  
Being partnered with May Lancaster was definitely something different for him though, she knew when to take charge of things but she was also a follower which seemed to get them in more trouble than when he was on his own.  
She liked to lie around the apartment and relax or munch on the left over cookie dough ice cream stashed away in the freezer, of course there were also the days she was forcing him out of bed with a scream of Paladin's.  
How she attracted so many he didn't want to know, he was probably just too bland to get their attention, or at least he hoped that was it and he wasn't secretly being stalked like his mind informed him each night.  
Cutting into the motel through the doors he caught up to her quick stride, grabbing her hand when she entered the elevator ahead of him.

"So who's here?" He mused as the few people inside the elevator eyed the two.

"Two have been spotted, one who I want to meet especially. Heard he's got quite the reputation" May answered simply, grinning to herself when she thought of the Jumper specified.

Nodding Alan crossed his arms behind his back acting as if he was a big professional of some sort, exiting the elevators after May as she threw on a red leather coat over top of her blue dress complete with the black stockings.  
She strutted down the hallway with ease, rapping her fingers along the walls as she went until she came to a stop at the door marked '274'.  
Standing up on the tips of her toes for her height of 5'7" she stared into the small hotel room, getting a good visual before jumping straight inside.  
She landed in the middle of a bed and a television, her toes managing to wiggle on the carpeted floor through the thin material.  
Alan appeared a few seconds behind her, dusting himself off as if it was work.  
The two began scouring the small room, looking everywhere for a hint as to where the Jumper was until May discovered a small duffel bag hidden under the bed.  
Giggling in accomplishment she pulled the bag out by its strap and held it up for her partner to see, only it wasn't her partner she found staring back at her and the bag.

"Room service...?" She tried instantly regretting it as he jumped forward and tackled her to the ground.

Her head hit the floor instantly and she watched as the colors swirled behind her eyelids, regaining composure just as she was forcefully brought up to her feet and pulled straight into a firm body that held her wrist tightly.  
The skin that was being held between his fingers was getting red from pressure and turning white as the pain eased up to her elbow.  
She refused to cry out in pain as the Jumper swung her about like a rag doll to suddenly block an attack that was thrown at him by the second angry Jumper.  
Alan hadn't seen the attack coming until May had been tackled behind the beds and out of his sights but when he figured it out he was ready to defend, or at least he was hoping he was ready to defend.  
What caught him off guard however was the angry voice of a male Britain that shook May's arm around as if she now belonged to him and was a new toy.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shouted not expecting an answer before he continued, "I want you both to fuck off! Now!"

"You're a jumper!" May cut in, "So are we!"

"So have a tea party and get lost" He glared forcefully at her and gave a good threatening tug on her wrist.

"We need help to take out the Paladin's though! I've heard your one of the best!" May tried again, hearing her voice crack just a little bit from desperation.

He glared firmly at her and snatched the duffel bag that was still held firmly in her hand and threw her down onto the bed away from him, "I don't babysit"

"_Please_..." Alan spoke up from the door, as if that was going to block the exit.

"How did you find me, eh?"

"Actually I have no idea, May figured it out" Alan answered when he noticed the blue eyed Britain staring intently at him.

"I'm good with computers" She answered simply as if it was obvious before jumping from the bed to a few inches in front of the Britain, "I'm May Lancaster"

"I don't care who the hell you are" He hissed, "Now don't you follow me, I don't want to see your face ever again or I'll cut your fucking eyes out" and then he was gone before her eyes.

"We tried..." Alan sighed heavily.

"What do you mean we tried?"

"What were you thinking going after this jumper May? What's so special about him that made you want to track him down, I mean we're looking for jumpers that will help us right?"

"What are you on about?" She turned to face him when a sudden smile lit up her oval face, "**You** can go after him!"

His reaction was quick, "Your high"

"No, no, he said if **I** go after him, not you Alan! Look it'll be easier if we split up and then meet back up together!"

"Why are you always trying to do things on your own" Alan sighed looking around the room as he felt his brain swirl with thoughts.

Catching onto his dizzy state she jumped forward and grabbed his arms, "Sorry Alan I forgot, so then should we just go after the other jumper?"

Nodding he slumped down to the floor to rest for a moment, feeling his heart pounding painfully in his chest from a rush of adrenaline.  
Yawning into her hand May crouched down by her friend and wrapped her arms around his neck securely, patting his short brown hair in a sisterly manner.  
May liked being eight months older than her friend, liked taking on the role of an older siblings as she had grown up as an only child.  
Once she figured he was ready to move again the two straightened themselves out and moved into the hallway, looking which way and that before taking the elevator again.  
May had taken it upon herself to get the address of both Jumpers before they left, and conveniently both were in the same place at the same time.  
Figuring out which hotel and room number to access was simple enough when they were dense enough to leave trails behind.  
Names, numbers, money, and hell even your foot steps can always be traced back to you she learned at a young age.  
It was all a matter of how much time you were willing to spend, what brains you had and just where you were looking for the information.  
A knack you could say she picked up from working around computers most of her life, taking job after job of computer programming with whoever she could until she became so influenced in it the codes just flowed from her fingertips without any thought muscles.

"So are you going to tell me about that guy?"

"He's killed over sixty Paladins', so I've heard. I thought it anyone could help us it would be him" May answered back quietly.

"Well he sure does have an attitude problem doesn't he?" Alan scoffed as he thought back to the awful encounter.

"I bet you he's a softie at heart" She teased thinking about him as if he was a teddy bear in a leather jacket, which if thought hard on he could be. Give or take a few pieces of fur.

"Know his name?"

Stopping sharply in her brisk pace she looks to her friend with a strangled look, her cheeks slowly ting a faint pink.

Alan feels the laughter build up as he stares at her, "You knew where he was, how many Paladin's he's killed yet you... don't... know his name?"

"Oh shut up! It's not like you knew it either" She spat out as he began laughing at her expense.

"I'm not the one who researched him" He pointed out, jogging after her as she began walking away again.

"Well it's not like he has his own fan page of highlights!"

"Right, good excuse, perfect," Alan nodded, "So you up for some phone calls to this new Jumper, I'm a little tired of walking?"


	3. Bus Pass?

Disclaimer: Still don't own Jumper, but I'm working on it :D  
I do own May and Alan and any other Jumpers I'll probably throw in.

I'm glad I managed to update this today since I have a doctor appointment in a few hours and hopefully when I get back home I might be able to again?  
Also I want to thank everyone for reading! I'm in a great mood after seeing I had a review and a story alert :)

* * *

May was tired of chasing this idiot Jumper, having to jump every six seconds just to keep up with him as they dashed throughout the scenery of Taiwan until they arrived in the streets of New York where he ran down to the subway station.  
Realising she was now forced to chase after him on foot as he stopped jumping and she had never been down in this exact district before May cried out in frustration.  
Alan had been behind her throughout the chase until she lost him near the corner book store, May figured he would catch up through their jump scars until he got lost.  
He had a horrible sense of direction but she figured she could find him afterwards; it wasn't like they weren't separated before.  
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs she looked around in frustration, spotting the short haired blonde jumper moving around quickly and looking nervously around.  
Inhaling a sharp breath to heal her pained lungs she took off at a furious run, dodging random people and cutting over luggage that got in her way.  
When he noticed her behind him he began running again, '_What the hell was up with jumpers these days and running from everything?_'  
Groaning in frustration she reached out to grab his coat, catching it barely and jerking him backwards just as he passed the female attendant working the pass.

"Can you stop running for a second!" She snapped at him.

He started at her in confusion as sweat poured down his forehead, "What do you want? Why can't you just leave me alone"

"Excuse me," A nasally voice interrupted, "Can I see your bus pass?"

"Bus pass?" The two Jumpers turned to face her with serious looks.

"Yeah, if you don't have one I can't let you pass" She answered as she fixed the bun her hair was tied in.

In a matter of seconds the male May held onto reproduced a pass and looked back at her, "Tough luck"

She watched as he shrugged her off then and began a quick jog towards the underground train, "Dammit! Can you please let me pass?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't unless you have a pass"

"Dammit!" She cursed as she moved away from the small woman and over to an area where she could see the jumper climbing onto the train.

He looked back at her with one of those shit eating grins and entered the metal contraption, wafting a peace sign her way as the doors slide shut.  
Not one to be told no May focused on the spot he stood, jumping straight to stand at the right of him.

"Listen we really need to talk" He jerked when he saw her appear beside him, looking wide eyed around him in case someone else saw.

"Are you fucking crazy?" he spoke in a hefty New York accent.

"I'm not leaving you alone until I get your help" She responded gently.

He seemed unconvinced as he rubbed at his oily and acne ridden face, grabbing at his short hair in large fists, "They'll kill me, kill you, kill everyone if they see us talking, don't you understand"

"That's what I want to talk to you about, my friend and I need help, we want to take these guys out once and for all"

He stared at her firmly and shook his head, "What's your name?"

"May Lancaster"

"Do yourself a favour May, please find someone else. I can't help you, I just want to hide, I just want to be free"

Looking sadly into his brown eyes she took in his pain, how much had the Paladin's taken away from him to make him broken?  
He was an extremely well built man, looking as if he had taken on a football team more than once in his time.  
Nodding solemnly she stepped back to get out of his space, watching him turn to look out the window.  
Staring at his hunched form of 6'2" she felt the rolls of pain come off him, showering her with her own memories and guilt.  
She too had lost the people she loved from the Paladin's but unlike this blonde jumper she had taken to finding someone to cling to which happened to be Alan, someone to help keep her sane instead of allowing her to collapse in on herself with suffocating thoughts of abandonment.

"What's your name?" She asked kindly.

"Carter... Carter Lemming," He answered her with a bit of hesitance, "I really wish I could help you but there's no way to stop these guys, they'll always come for us... Maybe we should just give in"

"You want to let them win?"

"They already have," He answered back truthfully and casted a sorrowful eye her way, "I used to have the greatest life, perfect girlfriend and loving parents. I had a scholarship too! Straight into the big leagues I thought and then they showed up..."

"That's why they need to be stopped" May pushed, moving forward again to rest a gentle hand on his shoulder that he casually shrugged off.

"I wish you and your friend the best but I can't put myself out there, I can't witness this anymore"

She had the horrible feeling bubbling inside her that forced her a few steps away as the train lurched to a stop and the doors slide open to free them, "Where can I find you?"

"If I change my mind?" Carter asked back.

"Yeah"

"I won't" He replied simply before heading out the contraption and into the dingy air of a subway station.

Sighing as she left she realised how wasted her time had been, no British Paladin hunter, no New York bad ass **and** a lost Asian friend at the corner of a book store.

Wonderful day so far.


	4. When In New York

Disclaimer: Why am I always being reminded that I don't own Jumper or Jamie Bell...?  
I do own May and Alan and any other Jumper I throw in there that you don't recognize.

Not much Griffin action in this chapter, there will be in the next one though, promise. :)

* * *

After losing sights of the jumper named Carter, May had to wait until the next train came again to get back to where she came from in hopes of finding the missing Alan.  
In a total of twenty minutes she really had nothing to show for her efforts of finding other jumpers, sure she had located two but they refused to help and so there was really no progress.  
As the train doors slid open to let her past she saw a few familiar trench coats waiting at the station, arms tucked into their pockets and shielding whatever was hidden beneath the coat.  
Her stomach lurched as she saw them and immediately the horrible thoughts they had gotten Alan zoomed into her brain.  
Looking around rabidly she noticed a few people with cell phones and silently wished she was smart enough to buy her and Alan a phone to keep in contact when separated.  
Kicking the wall that contained her she moved out with the flow of the crowd and tried to blend in, although she was pretty sure she stuck out like a sore thumb unless that was all just in her head.  
She could see their eyes boring into everyone, dissecting who was just a simple idiot walking to their jobs or home and who was the jumper, the thing that could teleport to places without lifting so much as a finger.  
Sighing into her hand as she pretend to yawn, covering her face in the process as she passed one of the taller ones and walked up the stairs to the street above.  
First thing on her agenda, find Alan, **immediately**.  
Her walk quickly became a job that changed even quicker to a run once she was on the streets with light pouring down over her.  
She wasn't even concentrating on the people around her as she ran to the last place she saw Alan, hoping beyond all hope that he stayed there to wait for her.  
As she ran she ignored most of the people and the jump scar that appeared beside her, not realising it was there as she continued her trek to find the building.  
Eventually she had to stop to ask for directions, getting there much faster she realised then when she ran with no direction.  
Inside the store she couldn't see him, couldn't find his usual beige and maroon shirts, couldn't even pick out his would be panicky behaviour for being left behind.

"Excuse me? Have you seen anyone come in wearing a beige and maroon shirt, he's 6'1", little Asian dude probably mumbling about being left behind?" May asked the young teenager at the counter.

"Uh yeah, he was in here for a little while before these guys came in and he left with them"

Shock went right down to her core as she looked about, "Were these guys wearing trench coats perhaps?"

"Yeah" She nodded and watched as May began pacing.

"Was one of them black with white hair?"

"Not that I recognized..." She trailed off.

Not caring much to wait around and panic May vaulted out the door and into the street again, not bothering to say a thank you for the girls help.  
They had caught Alan, which must have been why they were in the subway station.  
But if they were looking for her as well that meant they knew of their plans to join up with other jumpers, or at least knew Alan and her worked together.  
Tugging on her hair forcefully she spun in a full circle, fighting the nausea that over swept her.  
She was going to be alone, she realised with a horrified shock, they were going to kill him and there was nothing she could do.  
Looking around for the last time with a desperate eye she jumped where ever she could, now running again and jumping ahead as if that would help.  
She knew it would attract attention, but maybe that was what she wanted?  
Crashing on top of a building she rolled, coming to a stop with her face buried in her arms as she cried.  
He would be killed in New York City, he would be killed by the people that held no hearts and she would be lonely and afraid once again.  
Smashing her fist against the smooth concrete of the roof the building had been made of she heard the crunches of footsteps moving towards her.  
Reacting quickly she rolled out of the way as a claw like metal piece smashed into the spot she was once laying, the hum of electricity running through it as she realised just who it was.  
Jumping up to her feet she turned to face them, anger blurring her vision as she steadied herself.

"Where's Alan?" She commanded but was ignored as they shot a tether her way.

Jumping to avoid the electrified weapons she crashed onto a building just far enough away from them until the thoughts began progressing.

"Where's Alan!" She screamed at them as they ran and leapt over buildings to try and catch her.

As they neared she felt a force crash into her side, tackling her to the ground in a jump as they vanished from the spot and reappeared in an aisle of the book store she had left.

"You alright?" The familiar voice asked her.

Squinting an eye she recognized him immediately, "Alan, are you alright?"

"I asked you first" he chuckled as he got up to his feet and that was when she noticed the way his shirt was torn.

Thankfully the second layer kept him together as the maroon shirt overtop held the holes throughout itself.

"I thought they killed you" She answered back quietly.

"So did I," He hummed with a chuckle, "But listen, I caught up to that Jumper!"

"Carter?" She mused with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I found out where his hideout is though, he said he didn't want to help us though... said you already harassed him"

"I didn't harass him, I asked him" She rolled her eyes, "But that's great, so if we need his help we know where to find him right?"

"Well unless he moves somewhere else, but I doubt he will since it's pretty much the best place to hide"

May smiled guiltily at Alan when she thought of the poor New Yorker, "I remember him saying he wouldn't change his mind"

"Told me the same thing, listen I think we better get out of here before those Paladin's find us again"

May didn't respond as Alan jumped them again, this time landing them both on the streets of Paris, rain pouring down to drench their hair.

"I was thinking," Alan started, "About the other jumpers, what if none of them agree to help us?"

"We'll convince them" May nodded as if that was the solution.

"Don't take no for an answer right?" He teased.

Stopping in her spot May casted a short glance to her friend and blew at her blonde bangs, "I can't handle running for long, not when they catch us so easily. Soon enough not even our jumping will be able to save us, what then?"

"Then... let's look on the positive side"

"Positive side of what?"

"Positive side that until then we can fight and we'll win before it comes to that"

Laughing suddenly May punched his arm lightly and nodded, "Let's go find us some rogue jumpers"

The two left quickly after that, arriving inside Alan's grandfathers home in Taiwan where they had set up everything they needed in the basement.  
A computer was pressed against the wall, his monitor flashing with a screensaver that stated 'touch and die' as it bounced about in happy sunshine yellow colors.  
May skipped over to it quickly and left Alan to the bed and his own thoughts.  
The two were quite used to the routine set up for them, hardly ever falling out of it.

"Hey Alan" May spoke up from the computer moments later.

"Mmmm" his muffled voice came back to her, his face buried into a pillow that he grabbed off the tiny bed in the corner.

"I think I want to find that British guy again"

"Are you crazy?" He jerked back up, "What part didn't you understand of 'I'll cut your fucking eyes out'?"

"I think if we explain the situation to him he'll help"

"I think he'll break your arm" Alan scoffed, "Besides we'd do better finding others"

Grumbling under her breath May faced the computer screen as a picture of the British jumper came up, shaggy dark blonde hair that looked browner then anything with clear beautiful blue eyes.  
His features were handsome and she couldn't help but wonder which side of his parents he got them from as they appeared rough yet young.  
He had a light bit of stubble she noticed on his face, but it suited him and she certainly wouldn't want him to shave it off.  
It was like his personality.  
She noticed on his neck a scar, something that captivated her a little longer than necessary and caused her brain to think up horrible images of how it had happened.  
Glancing up with hazel eyes over to Alan she made a final decision, if he wasn't going to let her find this guy then she was going to do it alone, whether she could handle it or not.


	5. Are you stupid?

Disclaimer: your assumptions are correct, I _still_ don't own Jumper. I do own May and Alan and any other Jumpers I throw in.

Well I'll be updating a lot through the weekend since my parents are off for their anniversary and my brothers haven't returned home, yay no one to tell me to shut off my lights and music at 3:00 am!!  
So hopefully I have Griffin in character as I keep going back over every time I write him just to make sure it doesn't sound too horrible or anything :)  
And whoa thank you for another story alert! that made my day a million times over!  
Nothing helps make you want to write a chapter more than hearing people like what you've wrote :)

* * *

May awoke with a jolt as something sharp dug into her side, eyes snapping open as she jumped to across the room and hit the wall with a heavy thud from her half haze.  
Laughter caught her off guard when she looked over her shoulder in a ready stance, her muscles tightening as her fingers flexed.  
Alan stood with a pencil between his fingers; wiggling it about as his head tipped back to release more barrels of laughter.  
Narrowing her eyes May straightened her back, rubbing at her temples as she looked back to where she had fallen asleep.  
The computer chair was still swinging in a circle from her sudden disappearance while the screen blinked lonely back at her with its screensaver.

"How long was I asleep for?" She yawned, scratching at the back of her hair as she walked towards the computer again with full intent to get back working.

"Usual eight hours I'm pretty sure" He shrugged loosely.

Nodding May shook the mouse to bring the computer out of its hibernation, stepping back once she saw the familiar blue eyes staring back with anger at her.  
_Had she fallen asleep staring at him?  
_Clicking the page down May took the chair again and spun it for good measure, blowing her bangs away from her face as she recollected her thoughts.  
Her fingers clicked against the keyboard buttons, becoming a furious speed as she began looking for other Jumpers and their last sightings.  
Alan leaned over her shoulder with a heavy breath, arm dangling over her shoulder as he leaned on her for support.  
Together they looked for three hours, sorting out the old, the fake and the new before coming to a conclusion that the next jumper they could find was not only in two places at once but three.  
Alan guessed immediately that this guy was jumping fast to avoid Paladin's but somehow still kept on course of wherever he was heading before they got there.  
It unfortunately meant that May and his self would have to separate to cover both sides of the tracks, finding jump scars and following them to wherever they led.  
It seemed this one jumper was moving between Canada and New Zealand, then skipping over to the Arctic.

"He's moving through these places all at once" He sighed, hanging his head and tugging at his short locks.

"Which means we have to split up" May was trying her best to hide the grin in her voice; it was like the perfect chance.

"I like how you're trying to sound down about this" Alan muttered dejectedly.

Slapping his shoulder playfully she leaned back, "Chin up Chou, how about we meet up back here in two hours? If one of us doesn't show after ten minutes we run. I'll take New Zealand and see where that leads me"

Looking quietly at his choices Alan nodded, "You'll show up though, right?"

A dark look crossed her features as she locked eyes with her close friend, "I promise they won't kill me, I promise"

Taking the hint Alan vanished from his place to the one picture shown of the jumpers last jump site in Canada.  
His feet touched ground in a matter of seconds and were sent running as his breath thundered in and out of his lungs.  
The change of weather snapped his skin awake and sent streams of proper air through his sinuses, almost making him gag when he moved the wrong way behind a car and fumes spilled out.  
Pinching the bridge of his nose to block out the smells Alan continued on until he found a proper jump scar, grinning as he jumped through it before it closed.  
The second one wasn't that far ahead he noticed as he took it on with a heavy run.  
Jumping in a run was like changing scenes in a movie, coming from somewhere nice and warm like Hawaii to somewhere nice and quiet like Alabama.  
This was one of the things Alan liked best about jumping, not seeing the scenery but passing through it and so he carried on with high hopes, taking whatever jump scar he saw left behind all the while hoping May had the same luck he was having.

But of course May was not having the same luck Alan was, she had quickly found herself under a million bright green trees with no place to go in sight.  
Nothing shimmered or reflected like a jump scar would, nothing appeared distorted and nothing stood out to her eye.  
The only thing that caught her attention was the talkative people walking about carrying shopping bags and little children not old enough to walk.  
Fisting her hair in her tiny hands she took off in a run wishing Alan better luck as she tried to look everywhere she could for a jump scar that could have possibly faded already.  
Stopping suddenly when she heard a soft chuckle close to her right ear she spun around, left hand going out to smack whatever pervert had breathed on her neck.  
Another hand quickly caught her wrist, thumb rubbing over the small tattooed band over her skin before clutching it tightly in their grasp.  
It was a familiar grip she realised as she slowly brought her face up to meet the one who she had fallen asleep to staring at last night, only he wasn't a picture on a computer screen now.

"Jump scar's back that way" He mocked and thrust a thumb with his opposite hand in the direction over his back.

"Thought you didn't babysit?" She brought up slowly remembering their conversation in the hotel room Alan and her and broken into.

Blue eyes narrowed as he swiped her wrist away from his hand and turned to look away from her, "I don't and I'm not"

"Then what're you doing here?" She pressed, secretly hoping he wouldn't catch on that she wanted to know his jump sites.

He seemed to know exactly what she was hinting at as he opened his mouth to reply, pausing a second before gathering his thoughts, "None of your damn business"

"Fine" May nodded and began walking back to the direction he pointed.

She found herself walking regretfully away from the British jumper in a matter of seconds, stomping her way to the crosswalk with eyes cast downward.  
Her sneakers that she stole from Alan were making noises against the ash fault and seemed much more interesting as she began crossing.  
Or it was interesting until a sudden grip almost ripped her arm out of his socket as it pulled her backwards and into a firm chest.

"Are you stupid?" He breathed in annoyance.

Sparing him a confused look she glanced back at the vehicles driving straight through without a care in the world for any civilians.

"Did I really walk into oncoming traffic?" She mused light heartedly.

Rolling his blue eyes he turned away from her and began walking down the road, waving a hand in the air as a goodbye, "Yeah you pretty much did"

"Hey!" She shouted spinning around to see him jumping away with a jump scar left behind, "I think I'm about to get myself in trouble..."

Looking down at the watch that latched itself around her wrist with bright yellow colors May checked the time, making sure she had enough before her two hours were up.  
Looking back up at the distorted scar that floated in mind air she looked behind her again only to spot the other jump scar he had pointed at before.  
It was decided, May Lancaster was definitely about to get herself in trouble.  
Groaning at her decision she looked back to the old scar then to the new one, what were the odds that Alan would find this other jumper?  
Weighing her options she took a quick run and forced herself through the scar, jumping in time where she continued running while trying to slow down.  
Her legs not agreeing when she wanted to come to a stop instead forced her to continue into a jog and then a final stop where she was finally given the chance to look at her surroundings.  
'Well this certainly isn't the Arctic' May thought with a thoughtful expression.


	6. Chou means Cake, Right?

Disclaimer: Don't own Jumper, wish I did, do own May and Alan and any other jumpers I throw in.

So I hope everyone likes this chapter, let me know :)  
I also have pictures of what I imagine May, Alan and Carter to look like if anyone wants to see? I can put them up on my profile but let me know if I should or shouldn't.

* * *

It took a matter of too many jumps to count before Alan caught himself in the cold ice of the Arctic crawling through the snow as his legs seared in pain.  
He had been running throughout Montreal before two Paladins' caught sight of him, giving him quite the chase before he lost them with the final jump.  
From his chase he earned a few bruises and cuts, none fatal or past any hardened veins and bone but some that stung when he moved a certain way or felt his skin crawl for an itch.  
After this entire race he went through Alan was pretty sure if they didn't find this Jumper he was going to lock himself in his room and sleep.  
He didn't care if May thought they needed to go out again, he was going to sleep in that nice warm bed with the comfy pillows that sucked his head in like a vacuum.  
Trudging through the white cold Alan tugged at his sleeves, hating that he wasn't wearing proper clothing for the destination.  
Adding to his thoughts of his warm bed he also decided a nice hot shower was in order, and the minute May argued him he'd take all the hot water so she could freeze her ass.  
'_She deserves it'_ Alan thought bitterly as he stomped around looking for either a jump scar or an entrance to some place in the miles and miles of ice and snow.  
Crossing his arms over his chest for some form of heat he avoided tripping a few times, not bothering to put his hands out for a safety net but instead jumping ahead a few feet to he could get into a faster stumble that could steer himself straight and balanced.  
By now his jeans were soaked cloth clinging to his calf muscles, not even letting the tiny bits of condensation sneak in as they weighed him down.  
What exactly brought a jumper out to live in the arctic? They'd probably be forced to eat snow cones day after day.  
Alan figured his grumbling wasn't helping any as he came to a stop by a hill, slumping down at the top as he looked around in the tiny blizzard of falling snow.

"Pneumonia here I come" He sighed exhaustedly and leaned back, bringing his watch over his face to check the time.

* * *

May had a bad feeling in her gut as she continued checking her watch every two minutes, only forty eight minutes were left and _still_ ticking down.  
Swallowing the lump in her throat she tried again at the locked door, jiggling the handle mercilessly with no progress.

"You know you could knock" The British accent flowed over her ears and made her stomach flip tightly.

Looking up to the only window that had been covered previously by the curtains she saw him hanging out with a bored expression.

"You knew I would come, why should I have to knock?"

"Cause you ain't invited" He countered, watching her closely for a response before he nodded in approval of her silence.

Kicking at the streets she looked around again, not a single person had passed by her in over ten minutes and that worried her to some extent.  
It was silent around her, not a single face could be used for comfort.  
She felt utterly alone on the streets and this feeling was like a strangling sensation wrapped around her throat.  
Her hands found the front of her shirt as she began ringing it tightly, causing wrinkles and stretches to form as she tugged it wherever she could.  
Above her the jumper went unnoticed as he watched her face turn from curious to panicking in seconds; he had seen it before and certainly didn't want to deal with it again.  
The last person who had that type of look on their face had clung to his arm for half an hour straight and cried, pleading with him not to leave their side for fear of being alone.  
Now admittedly he wasn't the most social person and he lacked skill in that area, but the minute someone started crying all the feelings of guilt yet disgust filed into him like a marching band and he was cornered.  
His urge was to jump the minute tears appeared, avoid returning for as long as he could, forever if possible.  
That was what he did last time, but of course he did return, returned straight to something that haunted him to this day and made him fear those big ugly tears and awful weeping noises that rung in his ear drums.

"Err, you aren't gonna cry are yah?" He called down to her timidly.

Looking up May shook her head and fought off the blurry vision that came with tears, "Of course not..."

"Oh god" He muttered as he looked around helplessly and hoped someone would just come down the street and take her away already.

Rubbing at her eyes May allowed her feelings to once again bottle up and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts, she only ever cried when Alan was gone but he wasn't gone now so she needn't fear.  
When she returned in thirty nine minutes Alan would be sitting there smiling with some big news about how he found the jumper or a saddened feature that meant leave him alone he had no luck.  
Deciding that she needed to simply keep herself in check and fight off the stupid feelings of abandonment May turned back to face the freaked out jumper and raised her fist to knock on the door.  
She watched as his face shifted quickly from scared she would cry to a whole other description, something that could only be described as something stuck between an ignorant curious but annoyed look.  
Rapping her knuckles against the wooden door she watched as his head rolled backwards in frustration and he jumped from his position to somewhere else she couldn't see.  
A second later the door was jerked open and there he stood leaning casually against the doorframe.  
May couldn't help but take him in as he stared right through her, arms folded across his black tee covered chest, every now and then tugging at the black leather jacket.  
Finally having enough with her staring he opened his mouth to answer something sarcastic her way only he was cut off as she brushed past him and entered the house, looking around and memorising everything inside in case she ever had to jump back.

"You came looking for me" May spoke to him casually over her shoulder.

"And why the hell would I do that?" he scoffed and slammed the door closed when he realised what she had done.

Shrugging she picked up a porcelain doll off the counter and stared at its chipped face, lightly brushing off the dust with the bottom off her long shirt that acted as a dress.  
It was quickly ripped from her hands and placed back in its spot carefully, given tender care that meant it had sentimental value he probably wouldn't share.  
May watched as he began walking up the staircase, jumping at the fifth step to the top of the stairs.

"What's your name?" She finally decided on asking.

He ignored her as he continued walking, entering a room right on the left wall.  
Huffing in frustration she jumped up to the top stair and entered the room filled with books and papers, "Who's the writer?"

He answered without looking up from a book that twisted in his fingers, "Mum loved books"

Bouncing on the balls of her feet she took in the dust that seemed to cover every inch of the house, "So are you going to tell me your name?"

His fingers snapped the book shut with annoyance and he jerked around to face her, eyes narrowing suspiciously as he jumped to stand a few inches apart from her, "None of your damn business"

He jumped away again and started moving out of the room, knowing she was following as she groaned loudly and jogged to keep up.

"Hey come on, I thought we had a little sharing moment there?"

Snorting he carried on down the stairs to an area that resembled a kitchen but looked too destroyed from some fight with a cracked flooring and burned countertops.  
The refrigerator door was stuck open and a loud buzzing noise resonated from it.  
Her fingers run smoothly over the bumpy wallpaper that had been shifted from the amount of heat that attacked the glue underneath.

"What's that tattoo for anyway?" He spoke up, eyes looking down at my left wrist where my band was held.

Glancing down at the band with small print inside it that was thick to make it look full I held my arm up into the light to examine it better.

"I got it to kind of remind myself of the things I once had" she answered with a curt shrug.

"Got any more?" He asked again as his hands found a small tub of peanut butter.

Nodding May watched his back, "Sparrow outline"

His blue eyes shot over to her curiously as he wordlessly asked where the tattoo was.

"Listen I need your help, all you have to do is help us train a bit, take out a few Paladin's and help us track down this bastard with white hair"

His back went bolt straight as the name fluttered into the air and seeped into his brain from the description, his heels spinning him around abruptly as he stalked over to grab the front of her shirt and forcefully pull her forward as they jumped to a room inside the house.

"You leave Roland to me; don't be getting yourself into things you can't handle. Now I think it's about time you get lost"

"Two days, it's all I ask then!" May begged as she cut him off before he could walk away.

"No" He growled wanting nothing more than to punch her, he really didn't care if she was a girl or not.

Groaning and bouncing on her heels May looked down at her watch with a horrified expression as she realised she only had another twenty minutes left, how could she convince him in less than twenty minutes?  
Agitatedly she began pacing before him thinking about excuses she could make up to Alan for being a little late.  
But then her mind reminded her she half only ten minutes after being late before he took off, they promised each other they would.  
Of course though there was always the tiniest part in Alan that forced him to stay put and wait things out, he didn't like fighting and violence and he sure as hell didn't like leaving people behind.

"Why do you keep looking at your watch?" His voice broke her out of her thoughts, eyes whipping up to see him grabbing things off shelves and place them in a cream coloured bag she never noticed with him before.

"I kind of have a time limit," she answered with a shrug before adding, "I'll make you a deal, how about you jump wherever the hell you want and if I manage to find you, you help us?"

"No" he rolled his eyes and turned to face her, now ready to jump her wherever he wasn't.

"Why not? I'll do anything! Please! I know you can help us!"

"No" He finalized and jumped straight to her, grabbing onto her shoulders and jumping them together to some place in Asia where she was surely never to find again.

He released her with a quick shove and jumped right back as May landed on her ass in the middle of nowhere.  
Looking around unhappily she realised it wouldn't be the best idea to follow his jump scar and chase after him again, she supposed she tried and when she saw him again she'd try some more.  
Now sitting in the middle of a place she barely recognised however she felt her rage boil up as she struck the ground with a sickening thumb in her right hand, cursing heavily when she hit too hard and actually bruised her fingers.

"Dammit"


	7. Carter Lemming Idiot

Disclaimer: Don't own Jumper, only own May, Alan and any other jumpers I throw in.

Thank you all so much for the story alerts and reviews they make my day a million times over!  
I'm very sorry I wasn't able to update and write sooner, I'm having friend troubles that have escalated beyond control. Oh well. :)  
Sadly there is no Griffin in this chapter (well except a mention) as well as the next one, just as a warning.

* * *

It didn't take long for May to teleport with a jump straight back into Alan's grandfather's home where she slumped onto the couch and stared out the window with distain.  
Alan still hadn't returned and the clock only showed five minutes left before the time was up and he went into overtime.  
Every time the clock ticked May felt her skin crawl with goose bumps and her mood shift down a few more notches until it was at the bottom of a long annoyed thread.  
Her concentration on a few birds outside was broken instantly as a wave of water suddenly appeared and crashed down everywhere, soaking her feet as well as the three males that had just appeared in the living room.  
May sat with big round eyes as she watched in shock as Alan grabbing the familiar blonde's shirt and punches him across the face just as the third unfamiliar male struck him in the side of the jaw.  
It was strange seeing Alan fight, watching him scramble to his feet whenever he was dropped to the ground and get back up again to land a blow on someone.  
Figuring she should stop this fight before it got too out of hand and everyone destroyed what was left of the water logged room she dashed forward to grab Carter's arm and forcefully pull him back.  
He stumbled a good inches and brought his fist down, not even bothering to look at who he was about to hit.  
May felt the hit in an instant, as her jaw throbbed and she crashed onto the ground allowing the pulsing in her brain to settle down and the stars to vanish from her vision.  
There was another loud scuffle before a thick body hit the ground to her left, just barely missing her she realised when she saw it was Carter.

"Don't touch her ever again!" Alan yelled over the now thick forming silence that only broke with the random drippings of water.

"Your late" May muttered when she looked up at the clock.

Alan's features softened as he stared down at her and offered her a hand to pull her back up straight.  
The third man in the room coughed loudly in ignorance, rubbing at his very short spiky dark brown hair that looked very wet from wherever they had landed before to bring water with.  
He was extremely short, standing at 5'3" with a long square face and medium sized nose.  
His blue eyes were light and hardly noticeable from under his pale skin.  
May noticed that his ears were pointed slightly at the top, looking like maybe someone had wrapped elastics around them for a long period of time and then they just got stuck.  
With Alan's help May got to her feet and looked around at the three still angry male jumpers, it was the first time she had ever seen this many jumpers in one place at one time.

"So you're the jumper running from Paladin's?" May asked him.

His face scrunched up and swatted his hands against his wet clothes, "I don't know who the hell you two think you are but jumping me through the Arctic Ocean is not a way to get me to help you!"

Alan snorted as the familiar Irish heavy accented male spoke, "Wouldn't of' happened if you hadn't started throwing punches"

Grinding his teeth together he moved forward to strike Alan again, bringing his fist around his face and watching him stumble back a few paces, "Don't sneak up on people then!"

Rubbing at his bruised jaw Alan winced in pain as May lightly fingered the area, "Can we all calm down for a second and talk? And why is Carter here?"

"Cause this dumbass thinks the world revolves around him" The short one spoke up, answering May earnestly.

"Hey, I didn't ask for you to jump into my place and break everything!" Carter shot back defensively.

Alan shrugged back loosely and started for the kitchen, waving a hand behind him as May began calling him back, "Alan! Don't you leave me here with two pissed off Jumpers!"

Looking back at the two May let out a heavy breath and introduced herself, "I'm May Lancaster"

"Derek Para," The short one answered and glared over at Carter before adding on, "From what your friend told me you want help in the war?"

Humming a tune low in her throat May nodded, "That's about right"

Nodding again Derek looked back to Carter with a single glare, "I'll give you three days then I'm gone"

Caught off guard May stood stunned for a few moments before it finally registered, "You'll actually help us?"

"Got nothing better to do for the time being" Derek shrugged and began moving after Alan.

Casting a glance over to Carter who glared at the departing jumper May walked away not read to start any conversations with him at the moment.  
She was a little confused with how quickly the three males went from fighting to silence.  
Normally if she and Alan were arguing it would last until either caved, often throwing things in each other's general direction whenever spotted.  
Figuring he was being left behind Carter chased everyone into the kitchen, nostrils flaring in annoyance as he stomped over to the chair Alan perched upon.  
The two stared each other down until Carter gave in and slumped down in a chair, heavy arms draping forward over the table as his mouth released a large over dramatic sigh.

"I'll help" Carter relented.

"Who says we want an idiots help?" Derek quipped with a brilliant smile filled with white straight teeth.

"I'm not an idiot!" Carter shouted getting his rage pushed back up.

"Please you walk around with a flashing light bulb that screams idiot," He shot back, rolling his tongue over his lips as he glanced out the window, "So do you two even know how to fight?"

"I've taken some self defence classes, isn't that enough?" May answered.

Derek snorted and looked to Alan, "What about you?"

Shaking his head in reply Alan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "So it's really us against them now isn't it..."

"It's always been us against them, Chou, now it's just... clearer" May answered him uncomfortably.

"Look I'm giving you three days so we start training now, Paladin's don't give you rest and the sooner you can defend yourself the farther you get in the game"

"You sound like my old coach" Carter muttered.

Rolling his eyes Derek jumped away, leaving a fresh jump scar glimmering in his wake as the chair he had sat on fell to the ground with a thud.

"You all sound like hormonal teenage girls, don't see me mentioning it" May quipped as she stood up to her feet and left to the basement, ready to get information on some Paladin's and the snarky British Jumper.


	8. Training

Disclaimer: Jumper is not mine, nor is Jamie Bell and that makes me very sad...  
I do own May, Alan and any other jumper I throw in that you don't recognise.

I love that people are liking this story, and I especially love hearing about it :)  
Tomorrow and Monday I won't be able to get an update because we're having a big family thing which is why I'm getting this out today. I'll have **double** updates on Tuesday after my doctors appointment though!

* * *

May fell down exhausted wiping sweat from her brow and reached for a bottle of water that Carter had brought out only an hour ago.  
Alan was still dodging attacks from Derek as fists came at him in all directions, connecting quite a few times even through all his efforts.  
Everyone was exhausted even if it had only been three straight hours of jumping around the room, futile kicks and random punches.  
May groaned and fell backwards as her body ached, she never thought finding other Jumpers was going to equal this much work.

"Get up, don't be lazy" Derek snapped in annoyance.

May had learned quickly about this twenty six year olds temper and quickly got back up to her feet, moving her feet into a defensive position as he prepared himself to strike her.

"I'm exhausted, that's different then lazy"

"Then you deserve to be killed" He rolled his light blue eyes at her.

"Why are we even listening to him?" Carter asked from beside Alan who remained hunched over panting for deep breaths.

"Because he knows how to fight?" Alan suggested.

"We can fight" Carter retorted.

"Properly I mean"

Throwing his hands up into the air the blonde stalked over to the water bottles and uncapped one to take a few long gulps.  
Alan groaned towards the ground as his body leaned forward till his forehead rested against the ground, his body in a strange arch.  
He was definitely on the fence about liking this Derek guy but he wanted to make best of the three days he gave them, it shouldn't be a matter about conflicts between them when they were already having huge conflicts with someone else.  
Getting his self back upright Alan felt the wind blow around him as he made a heavy jump towards Derek, catching him off guard as he was busy with May.  
The two tackled each other to the ground as Alan released his grip to jump away as his enemy shot back upwards.  
His feet touched ground roughly, forcing the ground around him to shake slightly and cracks in the dirt to appear.  
He wasn't very strong, Derek noticed, but he sure could jump quickly enough.  
Running forward with a few jumps to aid his progress Derek brought his foot around to round house kick Alan, watching with amusement as it was blocked and another body jumped into the fight.  
Carter had decided it seemed to join the fight as well, using his body to protect Alan and divert Derek's attention onto his self.  
The two blocked each other's fists as they tried to literally impale each other.

May watched from the side lines, glad she didn't have to fight anymore and sunk down onto the cool grass where she curled into a tiny petite ball.  
Releasing a sigh she listened to the sudden silence that filled the air, the men had obviously stopped fighting and now the sky was bare in blue.  
Alan slumped down beside her a second later, arms flying out to crash into her sore and abused stomach as he got himself comfortable on the ground.  
The two other jumpers gave up on fighting as well and entered back inside the home, heading for the kitchen for some food to consume.

"Hey Chou, think tomorrow we'll be up for taking a few Paladin's out?"

He grumbled his answer as he rolled over onto his stomach and stared to the side at her, "Right now I'm achy, ask me when I get eight hours sleep"

"You never get eight hours sleep" She pointed out staring at his brown eyes with interest.

"Right, well I say we worry about it later"

"If you are lazy, you'll die," Derek called from the backdoor, having heard their conversation he adds on, "And we'll see about the Paladin's later"

"How'd you find him again?" Alan muttered in annoyance.

"I forget," May answered back lightly and laughed, "Chou we should celebrate!"

"How and why?"

Turning her head to face him she reached her hands up into the air and stared as sun filtered through the gaps of space between her fingers, "Go to a club, and because we found two jumpers to help us! We're actually getting things accomplished!"

"Actually celebrating doesn't sound like a bad idea, I know of this great place in New York" Carter added his input as he exited the kitchen with a beer in hand.

"Are you even old enough to drink that?" Derek teased.

"I'm twenty three you fucking midget" Carter snapped with a glare.

"Chill out you two, I'm really tired and your bickering isn't helping" Alan tried separating them without actually getting up to do so.

"I'm changing, and Miami is the place to be, New York is so last season" May chided as she jumped and landed on the small bed in the basement room.

Getting up to her feet sluggishly she skipped over to the tiny dresser with two drawers, one for both her and Alan.  
Quickly withdrawing a loose thigh length shirt that acted as more of a dress she switched her torn and dirtied pantyhose for black high heels and bracelets.  
About to jump to the bathroom May came to a pause as she caught the sight on her computer screen and stared at the dark eyes of a dark skinned white haired man.  
The Brit had called him Roland and obviously knew him very well, or held some sort of grudge against the man by the way he told her to back off.  
Slowly stepping over loose socks and clothing articles she leaned forward a little, trying to take in the man's facial features.  
The way he glared from photographs showed his ignorance and self righteous attitude, and his attire affirmed what side he certainly played for.  
Piqued with a large interest May took the computer seat again to start searching him, trying to find information on this deranged man.  
A few folders popped up about him being high in security systems like FBI data bases and a few other secret services.  
'_Must be how he gets around so easily'_ May thought still clicking on links that could lead her anywhere.  
A thump jolted her in a fright away from the computer, her body naturally teleporting to a safer location in Fiji.  
Her heart raced as she stood on the beach with sand sinking her shoes deep underneath.  
Her mind spun in a vicious web as she realised she must have jumped when one of the three boys came downstairs.  
Feeling foolish May prepared to jump back, bringing her feet up and away from the sand as she stepped forward into a rush of cool air and skin prickling.  
Back inside the basement of Alan's grandfather she saw she had indeed over reacted, Derek was proof of this.  
He stood still with arms crossed over his arms as he eyed her curiously.

"Alan wanted me to come down here and see if you were ready to go... you've got quick reflexes, jumped as soon as I hit the third step" He mused.

Hiding the blush riding on her cheeks May looked around the room to see she had knocked the computer chair over and scattered objects about randomly, "I never leave softly"

Glancing around at her reply Derek nodded and responded stiffly, "It happens, the more you progress as a jumper the easier it gets, the more you can do"

"Do?" Her face had shifted quickly from blank to confusion.

Derek jerked around to stare at her, blue eyes staring her down in a familiar fashion to the angry British Jumper she continued thinking about, "There are some things you can move with you, you know, people, objects? Didn't you know this?"

"I know you can jump people, but objects?"

"This is going to be a long three days," Derek groaned and began walking away, "Hurry up and get ready; if we're celebrating we're doing this now"

Swallowing air into her lungs May felt herself pull back and land gently on the bathroom floor, hands quickly reaching out to curl the black pieces of her hair while leaving the brown and blonde straight.  
Once she was finished she rushed into the backyard to find the three men dressed the same, sweaty and almost repulsive.  
Resisting the urge to tell them to shower May informed them to follow her jump scar to a club in Miami, teleporting herself a second later and taking a simple glance around.  
It felt safe, secure and inviting, something she longed for and missed severely.  
May was the type of person to grow attached easily; it was why she felt so empty without Alan and why she constantly regretted leaving her family alone.

"I'm going to get pissed drunk" May muttered when she realised the mood that was shifting over her.

"Don't think you should keep a _little_ sober?" Alan mused from behind her, draping an arm over her shoulder as he watched her features soften at him.

"Thought about it, but I'm pretty sure I'll end up smashed anyway" She shrugged emptily.

A laugh sounded as Derek landed behind her, stumbling into her back as he caught his balance, "You seriously have to check out Carter's pissing"

"I wasn't pissing"

"Your right, it was more like whining. I'm **very** sorry" Derek chortled and stepped into the club with loud pounding music and a full service bar.

"I'm going to kill that guy" Carter muttered as he tagged after him.

"Bet ten bucks by the end of the night they'll be fighting" Alan whispered to her as they followed after their fellow Jumpers.

"I'll take that bet, and add another ten saying Derek will win"

Alan shook hands with her before resting a hand on the small of her back to help her through the heavy crowd.  
The place was filled to the brim with sweaty people, all dancing upon each other and spilling drinks with each movement.  
It seemed a few had glued themselves to the bar and were making small talk with each other while few hung around the tables.  
May had spotted Derek and Carter doing a round of shots at the bar within an instant, they might have blended in well with the crowd with the casual way they dressed but their competitive nature was drawing attention straight to them.  
Tapping Alan on the shoulder she directed him to the bar, ordering a martini for herself and forced to show her ID card.  
It was amazing some bartenders allowed the nineteen year old female to have alcohol as she had been too many places that refused to serve her.  
A perk of being able to jump somewhere that did, she thought with amusement.  
Sipping at her tangy drink she stared out at the club and took in the whole scene.

Lifting her glass in the air in toast with Alan and his beer bottle she flashed him a set of whites and spoke firmly, "To being anywhere, anytime"


	9. When Your Drunk

Disclaimer: Only own May, Alan, Derek, Carter and any other jumpers I throw in you don't recognise.

So I signed on today to see quite a few story alert adds **AND** even a story fav! Thank you so much! it was great to see after such a horrible day!  
Ps. I ran my first red light today (by accident! this car behind me was being a bitch and trying to kill me!) I was friggin spazzing about it for a whole hour to my dad haha. He laughed and said it was a lesson learned... yeah, people on the road are jackasses, lesson learned.  
Speaking of driving, has anyone watched the movie Driving Lessons with Rupert Grint? Gosh I'm addicted to it, I'm thinking I might write something on it...  
Oh, and I bought the deluxe addition of King Kong (woot Jamie Bell love and packed 3) so you might see a little Jimmy fic popping up someday soon, just as warning...

* * *

Glasses clinked together as cheers filled around the table, alcoholic beverages spilling over the edge of their glasses as the unsteady hands held them.  
The music was being left behind in the distance the louder people got until soon it was just a faded low rumble of noise.  
Now something everyone learns in their life time is don't drink and drive, and of course this same rule applies to jumpers only in a more 'don't drink and jump' sense.  
The reason was simple and obvious; if you can't think properly then you can't jump properly.  
It was a lesson May learned the hard way after their rounds of shots and jokes, Derek had informed them he needed sleep and wanted to get home while Carter reluctantly agreed.  
Alan offered to get them all home as he was the closest person to sober between them all but was declined by each of them in turns.  
Derek wanted to return to his small hideout home in the Arctic for the night, Carter missed his New York bunker and May was just too giggly to answer properly.  
Alan stuck it out for a few more hours as he helped keep his closest friend upright until May promised him she would be fine alone and ordered him to head back for some much needed rest.  
He felt guilty about leaving her alone and bubbling to the surface of his gut was a heart wrenching feeling that if he left her alone now then he would never see her again.  
That was the feeling that overtook him as she waved his helping hands off and sat back down at the table, now sipping water to help with her drunken state.  
He stood for a good few solid minutes before she called him by the nickname Chou and ordered him off, saying she would sober up a bit before returning home.  
After he left he realised the mistake he made, finding the entire house ransacked and basement destroyed.  
The computers were smashed and crackling electricity, the objects of the room thrown haphazardly around and their Jump Sites ripped down and missing.  
Alan could not suppress the scream that filled his lungs when he jumped back to the bar and found May missing, not a single jump scar left behind.  
Had she walked somewhere else before jumping? Was she simply somewhere inside the bar, having never left? Or was May dead by a group of Paladin's all because of his stupid need to go back home?  
Thankfully the last one was not the case, but nor was the second.  
After Alan's departure May had given up on trying to reclaim her sobriety and walked down the street for fresh air, having jumped a second later when she saw the dark dirty blonde hair of a familiar male.  
Landing with a thump her body collapsed on top of another, being flipped over effortlessly and pinned to the ground not a blink of an eye later.  
Something sharp dug into her throat as a throbbing sensation climbed up her back in pain.

"Didn't I tell you to piss off?" He fumed, his patience was worn thin just like the piece of knife that held itself dangerously close to May's throat.

Blinking her clouded hazy eyes May suppressed a hiccup and answered him, "I thought you were Chou"

"Chou?" He slowly raised an eyebrow at her as his blue eyes stared down at her, his knees digging into her chest as he kept her pinned to the floor of his new lair.

Bursting into a fit of giggles May ignored his look, "You said that funny, say it again"

Leaning down slowly to her face he raised an eyebrow, grabbing her chin to keep her face straight as he smelled her breath and recoiled quickly, "You're drunk"

"Am not" she hiccupped.

"Wasn't a question, it was a statement" he retorted.

Giggling again May cupped a freer hand over her mouth as he moved up off her, "I'm not that drunk then! See, no slurring!"

Rolling his blue eyes he considered helping her up but quickly came to the conclusion he liked it better when she was on the ground giggling rather than following him around and talking.

"So will you tell me your name yet?" She asked from the floor where she lay.

"Why?" he mused, walking around her and thinking of a place he could leave her at without risk of her coming back.

"Well," She hiccupped again, "You keep following me around, and I think it's only fair I know my stalkers name"

He gave her a look that suggested '_are you kidding' _before replying very slowly, talking to her like a child, "I'm not stalking you, and you are drunk. Now get out o' here before I throw you out"

Hiccupping again into her hand May leaned back and recited her name again, watching as he nodded and confirmed he already knew that, "But how? I just told you!"  
Rubbing at his forehead clearly annoyed he leaned down to grab her arms, she was much more annoying, he realised, while on the ground.  
Jerking her up to her feet he steadied her before moving her over to a mattress he had thrown in the corner to sleep on and pushed her down.

"You're not going to rape me, are you?" Her hazel eyes bugged out and he noticed the blood shot look to them instantly.

"Shut up" He commanded as he swung her legs around and grabbed his pillow for her head to rest on.

Surprise followed him as she finally followed his order, watching him throw a thin brown blanket to the end of the bed before grabbing a black tee from the dirty floor.  
Thrusting it at her he waited until she slipped her own long blue dress shirt off and replaced it with his own.  
When she was finished he quickly made sure she was carefully covered with the blanket, pushing her back down a few times when she tried to sit up.  
That night a drunken May Lancaster was taken care of by a mysterious man she hardly knew, only receiving a few snide comments about her drunken state whenever she wouldn't shut up.  
It was also the night that her mysterious British jumper revealed his name, informing her she was probably too drunk to remember so it wouldn't matter if she knew then.  
Griffin O'Connor.  
She didn't forget his name.


	10. Don't Even Know Your Name

Disclaimer: I repeat, still don't own jumper. Only own May, Alan and other jumpers you don't recognise.

It's about to get Griffin packed :D

* * *

The throbbing headache and back pain was what first awoke May, now what kept her awake was a whole different story.  
She had heard a television in the distance, strange music that had obviously come from some sort of Japanese videogame coming towards her small round ears.  
The sound of buttons being pressed rapidly also hit her and confirmed the videogame theory she was working on.  
Sitting up in a strange bedroom however, wearing different clothes than the night before and not recognizing a single surrounding made her blanch on the details of sound and set her brain on fire lightening quick.  
Her thin tiny fingers began winding themselves in the thin blanket as she feared for her own life, _where was Alan when she needed him!?_  
About ready to scream out her terrified state she suddenly caught eyes with the blue eyed man with dark dirty blonde hair.

"Awake then, I see"

She couldn't do anything but nod as he returned to facing the videogame he was playing.  
_Had he seen her looking terrified again?_ She couldn't help but dread.  
The small couch he was sitting on was placed just a few feet away from the television, with a small coffee table in between so he could rest his feet up on it.  
May took in the comfortable surroundings and figured he had probably never changed anything inside this little place once moving in.

"Griffin," She whispered to get his attention and watched as his head jerked around in surprise to face her, "Told you I wasn't that drunk..."

"Well then you can leave now, eh?"

"Where am I?" She avoided his half statement half question, she didn't want to leave, didn't want to risk not ever seeing him again.

"My lair" He answered with a shrug.

"Cave" She corrected in a teasing manner.

"No, lair, are you quite finished?"

"How long you been here?"

"Not long," He shrugged, "came after the first one burned down"

"Burned down?" May eyed him curiously and stood up to her knees, crawling over to him and sitting beside him on the couch.

Running a hand through his messy shaggy hair he glanced in her direction before returning to his videogame, "Question times over, now can you get lost or do I have to jump you again?"

"How about some coffee?" May avoided his attempts at freeing himself of her.

Suddenly dropping the game controller Griffin turned to face her, leaning forward a little to get into her face and speak, "Were you dropped on your head when you were little? Is that why you can't take a fucking hint?"

Smiling May pressed a finger onto his forehead and moved him back for more space, "Sure you want me gone?"

Rolling his eyes Griffin jumped up to his feet and turned on her, "Why exactly do you like following me around, huh?"

"Your amusing," May offered before pushing herself up to her feet, "So how about that coffee?"

"No" he grumbled his reply.

"Alright then" May muttered, jumping in the spot and relishing in the feel of wind blowing against her multicoloured locks.

The sounds of seagulls were heard with the roaring ocean as May did a small little spin on the beach.  
Her hair blew about her shoulders as she carried on through the sand, not realising the outfit she had on was any different from her previous one.  
Her bare legs felt cold she realised as she walked up the small hill in the sand to come to the sunny life of Fiji.  
Glancing down at her attire she hummed a smile over her features, _surely he would want his shirt back?_  
Continuing her path she dropped inside a small cafe, not bothering with what she was dressed like as she had seen many women in her life time come in wearing less.  
Collecting and paying the women at the counter for three coffees May left the small cafe before jumping straight to Alan's grandfathers.  
About to call out for him and offer coffee May was greeted unfortunately with the site of tarnished furniture, broken windows and a flooded floor.  
Fear washed through her as the tray holding the coffee dropped down to the floor, smearing the creamy liquid across the carpet and staining into the hardwood floor underneath.  
Eyes wide like saucers May ran directly for the basement, praying nothing had damaged the computers but not expecting much.  
As she expected the damage was much more concentrated in the downstairs, the mattress flipped over with clothes and sheets ripped about.  
She noticed the photographs of Alan and hers jump sites were gone, hopefully Alan had taken them.  
Spinning in a full circle to assess the damage May felt her heart leap up into her throat, jumping up to the kitchen where she found more damage.  
It wasn't easy to distinguish if the wreckage was from a fight or just a huge break in job but at least it was clear the cause was Paladin's.  
_'But how had they found them?'_ May thought in ignorance, even if it was easy to find them as they didn't hide too well it shouldn't have been that easy.  
Wringing her hands together fiercely she focused on places Alan and her had been before until she remembered Derek and Carter.

"Arctic or New York?" She spoke gloomily to herself before deciding on the one place she knew would be safe, "British"

With the image of Griffin's lair in mind she felt a tug on her back as she teleported herself to her new destination, landing on the uncomfortable mattress she had slept on the previous night.

"Don't tell me your back" The British accented voice called from what appeared to be a tiny kitchen.

Getting up to her feet May steered herself around the tiny cave like place, taking notice of only one exit, "You live like a bear, plan on hibernating for winter?"

She heard him chuckle half heartedly at her joke before his serious face appeared in front of her, "Thought you were getting coffee?"

"Alan's gone, I went back to our place and it was completely trashed. I don't know where to look, where he could be, if they got him, nothing! I don't even know where to start!" She breathed all out.

Shrugging Griffin walked past her carrying a plate of Chinese food, chopsticks in the other hand, "Can't help you"

"I never asked for help"

"Ah but you did, it was in your needy tone of voice you like using so much" He commented and began filling his mouth with the chow mien.

Ignoring him she threw her hands up in frustration and stomped over to him, "I need to find Alan"

"Who's Alan again?"

"Chou... er, he's the one that was with me when we found you in that hotel"

"Right," he nodded while remembering, "In that case, good luck finding him, he's probably gut fished by now"

If Griffin noticed the way she paled he didn't comment on it, instead he resumed his eating while keeping trained blue eyes on her.  
She was slowly starting to shake and in the back of his mind Griffin knew exactly what was wrong.  
She was going to start hyperventilating with some awful panic attack and he would be stuck with the blubbering mess.  
Sighing heavily and regretfully Griffin held out the carton of food to her face, face looking passive as he nodded in her general direction and offered her something to eat.

"Eat... you want me to eat?"

"I want you not to start crying and get lost, but seeing as that ain't going to happen so shut up an' eat," As an afterthought he added in, "And then go"

"I can't be alone," She whimpered, "Alan is the only person I have left, they killed my family"

"I don't want your bloody life story," he suddenly snapped in rage and withdrew his offer of food to stuff his own craving and rage, "Just go find your bloody boyfriend and stop coming around here"

Turning her teary eyed gaze upon him she sniffled back the pain and tried to remain strong, "Can I borrow your computer?"


	11. More Lost than Found

Disclaimer: Dont own Jumper, only own May, Alan and other jumpers you don't recognise!

I'm really sorry I haven't updated this sooner, I've been really sick and visiting the hospital a lot. By the way doctors are idiots and my mother has just learned that properly.  
Anyway I've rewritten this chapter about five times and I'm now happy with it, hopefully I have Griffin in character and hopefully May doesn't freak you out with her spastic mood swings? haha..  
Reviews make me happy :)

* * *

It was obvious by the look on his face that the fact she even asked about the computer was stupid.

"Use a library" he told her before jumping to the small couch where he made himself comfortable.

It was obvious May was panicking as she paced his small cave like home, kicking at the dirt floor in frustration as Griffin watched her passively.  
He didn't bother catching her attention, nor did he try to snap her out of her quiet rambling that started after she tugged a few times on her shirt.  
It was better, in his eyes, that she kept to herself rather than crying and clinging onto his shirt and that simply brought up another subject to his mind.

"So about my shirt..."

Her eyes snapped in his direction as her features softened, "I'll just find Derek and Carter, they can help me!"

"Good," he nodded and shooed her with his hands, "you can even keep the shirt if it gets you out faster"

"Griffin please help me" She suddenly pleaded as her mind shifted to a different idea, "You track Paladin's, I know you can help me find them!"

"You don't need to find them. Just go look for your friend"

Dropping down onto the couch beside him she let out a heavy breath of frustration, "The Paladins must have him, which means if I find Paladins I find Alan"

Griffin turned in his spot on the couch to face her then pointed to a picture behind her head, "That man there, Roland, he hunts us, he kills us. He's a paladin, one of _them_"  
Nodding along with him she waited as he continued, "You go looking for Paladin's he'll show up and kill you, you can't fight him, you'd lose"

"How do you know I would lose?" She snapped back feeling a bit defensive as he suddenly tilted his head up and revealed the scar she had been enamoured with in his pictures.

"See this? First round with him --"

May broke him off by pressing a finger to his chest and raising her voice higher than his own, "I need to find Alan and I'm positive those paladins know exactly where he is!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Griffin scowled, "You're not even thinking properly!"

"I'm trying my best here!" May shouted at him again.

"Well that's obvious," his blue eyes rolled, "just stick to your first thought of finding your other little friends and leave the paladins to me"

"I'm not weak"

Feeling frustrated he stomped up to his feet and jumped away, _why were women always putting words in men's mouths?!_  
He got far enough in the familiar restaurant before he heard the shouting behind him and felt two hands grasp onto the back of his leather jacket and jerking him backwards.  
He fell with a crash into a grassy park, landing on top of a much smaller body in the process.  
Rolling off her his first instinct was to start throwing punches, to get it through her head that she needed to get lost and so rounded on her to act upon it.  
Unfortunately he wasn't able to act quickly enough when she tackled into his arms and jumped them again, this time crushing them into his mattress back at home.

"Are you trying to attract attention and get us killed!?" He shouted as she pushed all her weight onto her palms to hold him on the spring bed.

"Help me" Her arms shook as she spoke and her eyes squinted shut in fear of him yelling again.

"No, I've already told you I'm not babysitting"

"Come on, it'll be like a marvel team up" She winced when she saw his gaze slam into her.

It was the smallest statement that could send him over the edge she realised when she found herself on her back with his body hovering over hers, "So help me I attract all the fucking idiots... I'll take you to your friends and that's it. I'm not helping you find this Alan guy, I'm not helping you track down paladins and I sure as hell am not staying with you longer than I have to"

"Then first I need a computer"

Hanging his head down May wrinkled her nose as his hair fell into her eyes and brushed her face, "I know a place, get dressed first"

"Got no clothes, remember? Other hideout destroyed?"

Rolling his eyes but thankfully having them hidden to her own detection Griffin hoisted his self up and walked over to a pile of clothes where he picked up a pair of pants and a belt, proceeding to throw them at her face along with another shirt.  
He didn't bother to tell her to change, after all it was implied and May knew she was pushing past her own luck with him.  
Discarding his shirt and changing into the new one first, May eyed his turned back as if expecting him to turn around at any second.

"Done yet?" He sounded very irritated with her she noted as she pulled up the pants.

"Yea"

Turning around he began stepping forward over clothe piles as she zipped up the zipper and did up the button to watch as they slid only an inch or two, "Surprised your this small"

"Shut up" He snapped and pointed to the belt, "I wanna get rid of you as quickly as possible, so hurry it up"

Getting the belt into the loops was trickier than she had hoped it would be when it got stuck a few times and she had to forcefully tug them through.  
It was either that the belt loops were too small for the belt or he purposely gave her a defiant belt, it was probably the latter.  
Finishing with buckling it up she swung her arms open as if he was going to pick her up and flashed him a cheesy smile.

"Christ you mood swing fast," He muttered to himself, hoping she didn't catch it even though her grin told him different, "That's not something to fucking be proud of"

"You sound a lot like Alan sometimes"

"That why your following me around like a dog?"

Frowning she reached out to punch his arm but found her wrist caught and body jerked forward as they jumped again, this time landing inside a small little electronic store with two working computers in the hibernate mode.  
Griffin motioned with his hands for her to hurry up and moved away to check security cameras and wipe their drives clean.  
While he left to busy himself May worked on getting the computer loaded and bringing up a few familiar websites she used to track all the jumpers Alan and her had found.  
Fingers stretched out automatically and began skimming over the correct information she needed, as she guessed neither Derek nor Carter had left any tracks behind after Alan had jumped them straight into his grandfather's living room.  
Sighing she continued searching, looking for any traces of Alan but found none.  
It was as if her three comrades vanished right into thin air, or rather jumped right to whatever the hell was off the map.  
Keeping her frustrations down May went to her last resort as she put in tracking numbers for a pager she had used to find Carter before, it was a dumb move but she wasn't going to remind him to throw it away as it had slipped her mind many times before.  
Expecting to see some results she watched as the page loaded blank and confirmed that Carter got wise and destroyed the pager, or turned it off.  
Griffin appeared beside her a moment later and listened as she told him she had no results, of course she might have better ones if she had her software installed but since her computers were destroyed at Alan's she had nothing else to work with.

He nodded as a different idea formed into his mind and he quickly jumped the two onto a street familiar to him but cloudy in May's own memory, "The bar I found you at is down the street, remember where your friends went afterwards?"

"Arctic or New York"

He gave her a look that obviously stated he thought she was joking, "I'm serious"

"As am I, Griffin"

"Stop saying my name" He grumbled now berating himself for ever sharing his name with her.

"What's a matter, not your type?" She joked with batting eyelashes in a teasing manner.

Griffin suddenly pulled his lips up into a smirk as he looked down at her and took her in, "Definitely not my type"

His response shook her off her guard and teasing attitude as she realised he was quite serious, "Wait, what? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You asked" He answered simply and began walking forward down the street, intent to see if he could find any jump scar or information on these other friends of hers.

"The bartender will know when we left, if I know the times I can figure out where everyone should be, right?"

Nodding Griffin pushed open the doors of the bar and strutted inside, letting the wood hit the female behind him without much notice.  
Slapping his hand on the counter he leaned forward to the bartender and jerked a thumb back at May, asking when she and her companions left the previous night.  
Running up to his side May glanced nervously around as he got his information, reaching out subtly to grab his hand that he jerked away from her upon feeling the heat of her skin come in contact.  
Frowning May leaned forward on her elbows as the bartender went into the back, claiming he was off duty that night but there was another who had served them who would know.

"Stop getting clingy" He suddenly clarified once the man disappeared into the back.

Darting her eyes over to him May nodded solemnly, "You're very hard to get along with you know?"

"I know" he nodded without taking his eyes away from the door.

When the bartender came back he informed them they left around four in the morning which was enough of a head start for May when she told Griffin Carter would be stopping at the hideout after a seven hour nap.  
Glancing down at the watch on his wrist Griffin shook his head and informed her if they left at four am then he already had his even hour nap about four hours ago.  
Looking a little confused May checked the time by grabbing his wrist and confirmed it was indeed two in the afternoon.  
Noticing she was about to start becoming panicky and have another mood swing Griffin asked about the other jumper and got the information he needed.  
This one he realised would be easy to track.  
Sure he was smart about jumping everywhere but he was foolish to only be jumping two separate places and then landing at the Arctic where he laid enough information for someone to track him.  
The snow was cold when the two jumped and the weather made it freezing as snowflakes scattered about their heads and landed a little roughly on the blanket around their feet.  
The sound of crunching snow hit their ears as they began travelling into the white wonderland in search of Derek's home.

"Should've gone with him" May muttered as she froze to death at the climate change.

"With who?" Griffin couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not telling you, you'll get mad at me" She pouted in his direction and continued pressing on.

Interest piqued he roughly grabbed her elbow and slowed her down a bit, "Get mad at you for what?"

Her exterior began becoming nervous, eyes darting about as her fists clenched and unclenched, "Alan found Derek's place... I wasn't... erm... with him at that time"

Realisation sunk in him as he narrowed his eyes at her, "You're telling me you don't know where this guys place is? We're just wandering around?"

"You didn't notice?" She chuckled helplessly.


	12. Tabs

Disclaimer: Don't own. easy as pie. only May, Alan, and other jumpers you don't already know.

**I'm sorry it has been awhile since I last updated, school started. It seems I will only be able to update on weekends now except for some rare occurences.**

_Oh and this isn't a filler as much as it might seem like one, there IS a reason I've done what I've done in this. Lets see who can figure it out! :D  
Reviews make me excited/happy! oh and if there's a review I haven't replied to yet, sorry! I'll get to it!_**

* * *

**

If there was one great big pet peeve of Alan Cameron, one that defied all others it would be Paladin's.  
They had no respect, were pig headed and total nut jobs but what bothered him most was the fact he was now stuck inside some containment room with electrical pulses spiralling into his brain.  
His arms ached while they stretched out at either side of him, his legs not doing anything to hold him up any longer.  
His back was hunched and his head slumped forward, he was in so much distortion he swore he could feel his hair growing out his head and earrings tingle in the lobes.  
'What the hell had they done to him that he hadn't seen coming?' He thought with a grim face.  
The walls around him were plain but not clear enough to make out, he hadn't slept all day and normally he would have a regular nap in between.  
It wasn't an option however, he was expecting the worse and to sleep on the enemy was just asking to be stabbed in the back.

"When did I become such a soldier?" he asked himself aloud, thinking back to the days his father would yell at him to straighten his shirt, clean his room and get a job.

He never did clean his room now that he thought back to it, time and time again he used the same excuse '_I'll do it later'_ before forgetting all together.  
He was never too good at remembering things he didn't want to, but he never had to remember much when May was around.  
In school she just gave him the answers to whatever test and that was that, no real homework done and no real effort put into education and life.  
Maybe he should have listened to his father while he was still around, should have paid attention to his grandfather who always talked about pride and competence.

"What the hell is competence?" He mused with a chuckle when he remembered his grandfather telling him to get some before he 'tanned his hide'.

'Ah the weird sayings that are handed down over time' he mused in thought.  
At that a door swung open heavily and his eyes drifted up to see a dirty blonde woman, her hair cut short and eyes hidden under large aviator sunglasses.  
She looked professional and by the white coat he immediately thought the worse and realised she was a paladin.  
Her steps were rushed as her long legs stuck out from underneath a grey knee length skirt.  
In a second she was striding towards him and releasing his bonds, working as fast as she could before speaking just as voices were heard from outside the room.

"You don't have much time, get out as fast as you can and hide"

"Who are you?" Alan croaked and felt the weight lift off his brain more as the wires that entangled him slowly dropped to the floor.

"It isn't important," She answered him as she straightened up, "Now go!" with that she vanished out the room again in a quickening pace.

Breathing deeply through his nose Alan shook off the rest of the wires, ripping a few spare ones that had been attached to his skin and jumped as fast as he could.  
He didn't know exactly where he landed until his brown eyes squinted open to see the familiar books stacked up against walls to inform him he was back in New York City at the book store.  
Deciding it wasn't the best place to hide in he made another jump, stumbling as the wind knocked out of his lungs by a quick blow to the stomach.  
He was on his knees quicker than he would've liked, ducking down to cover his head and jump forward away from his attacker.  
They were persistent however and followed him, delivering a swift kick to his side before he had time to recuperate or teleport again.

"Son of a bitch! Alan!" He was cussed out by the familiar thick Irish accented voice.

Arms reached down and grabbed him suddenly, forcing him up to his feet a little uneasily.  
The long face of Derek Para appeared in his vision almost immediately afterwards, his speech becoming slurred to Alan's ears.

"What 'appened to you?"

"Paladins," Alan answered as he stumbled forward onto the ground, "I think"

"How the hell you escape on your own?"

"I'm capable of it," he grumbled as he struggled back to his feet, only failing a few times before he was sinking into a squishy couch, "Where's May?"

"She not with you?"

It was enough to get him back to his feet however hard it was, "You don't know where she is!?"

"Relax; saw her with some guy in a leather jacket roaming around trying to find my place. Figured I'd let 'em off the hook in awhile, at least once they're done arguin'"

"Leather..." The image of the angry British jumper filled his mind and immediately panic set in. "I told her to stay away from him!"

"So your girlfriends foolin' around, not like you can't" Derek shrugged as if it was a common topic and for him it probably was, or as normal as anything could get.

"Where are they? Derek if she stays with him she'll get fucking killed"

"I'm sure she can take care of herself, sides if that guy was going to kill her I think it would be done by now. Especially since I last saw her explaining they were lost..."

"So you've been following them? Keeping tabs? She's safe?"

"Girlfriends safe"

"S'not my girlfriend and answer my questions"

"Too many to remember," He was waved off with a single hand motion, "Why not?"

"She's like my sister, now have you been keeping tabs"

Derek chuckled hard as he grabbed an empty bottle off his television screen, "Yeah I've been keepin' an eye on her. No need to worry your pretty little... well you ain't pretty so just don't worry"

Standing in the middle of the room Alan finally took notice of its disorder, "you been redecorating?"

Derek snorted and vanished from sight, hopefully to make another check on May, Alan hoped.  
She tended to get a little emotional when left alone and he only hoped this guy she had some weird fascination with could handle that.


	13. Bundle of Nerves

Disclaimer: don't own jumper of its characters. only mine.

So tonight I got in a fight, these assholes came out asking me and my friends for some cigs and beer. we said we had none and they decided to start a fight.  
The night pretty much ended in us phoning the cops and me scared to even go home since they were like right beside my house. Terrifying stuff it is.  
I'm still panicky... thankfully I didn't get hit, my friends took the hits and kept me safe. :)  
So this chapter is for them for keeping me safe.

* * *

It was becoming painfully obvious that the welcome she supposedly had was lost to the cold weather of the Arctic, along with any chance of finding Derek's little hideout.  
Her mind was fresh with thoughts of what to do next while her body, emotionally exhausted sat still in place on the ragged beaten up couch belonging to Griffin.  
He had said a few words when they finally gave up their search, complained of where he should just drop her off at instead of wasting his precious time.  
_What exactly did he do with his precious time other than video games and paladin hunting?_

Griffin was a prime example of an antisocial rat, cluttering in the masses with a frightening pace that got him by just enough to sneak back into his hole.  
It was bad enough her emotions were on a tidal wave of fluctuation but to clash with his constantly angered and life loathing was becoming a tiring job.  
Sure May still felt the pang in her head that made her pursue him, made her cling with both hands even when he tried walking away but it was a short leash struggling to choke her.  
Pulling fretfully at her hair she ducked her head between her knees and took a few deep breaths, if she slowed her heartbeat she could look at the situation in a much calmer manner.

"I don't care where you go, but you can't stay here" He finally decided, crossing his arms over his chest in attempt to frighten her out.

"If you didn't care where I went you wouldn't have went with me to the Arctic to find Derek's place and stay with me until we found them"

"You're running on my last nerve" He argued back lamely.

It was a moment she took for granted as he caught himself and corrected his lame attack, "Maybe you can find someone else to bother with your constant mood swings, yah?"

Sighing she rubbed at her dirty face and spoke muffled words to him, "Gah, I know, I know. I'm not used to this"

If she had looked up from her hands she would have noticed the way he backed off in a frightened stance, worried water works were about to come as his hands left his pants pockets to protect himself.

"Put a lid on it, will yah?"

Swallowing the spit in her mouth May nodded at him, "Fair enough, wanna play chess?"

"Are you on crack?"

"If I was would you play chess with me?"

His blue eyes looked as if they would roll out of his head at any moment, the way his lips remained still and steely only furthered the strange facial expression he chose to display.

With his arms dangling at his sides he carefully responded, making sure to annunciate every word clearly, "You need a life"

"Got one," She cheerfully replied, "It's just a little lost at the moment, but as soon as he gets back I'll poof out of here in no time!"

"So your saying, promising in fact, that once this Alan guy or Derek or whatever the hell those idiots you hang with are called find you, then you'll leave?"

"Sounds right"

She didn't expect him to suddenly jump from the spot but she figured he needed a bathroom break.  
I mean he really didn't want to get rid of her that badly... _did he?  
_Getting up to her feet May began scouring the cave like home Griffin seemed adapted to for some sort of food, she really didn't want to go somewhere for food to have him return and find her missing.  
'He might throw a party or cry' she scoffed at her thoughts, knowing the jumper would be pleased to be rid of her.  
But she decided if she was going to be sticking to his side for awhile she was going to take his suggestion and stop acting so hormonally imbalanced.  
She would contain the panicky thoughts, sweaty palms and nervous lip biting as well as she could.  
Would keep things simple and cool, after all she would just imagine him as Alan.  
'Yeah that would do it', she thought, 'imagine the angry equally PMSing British jumper who is already making plans to drop me in the Pacific Ocean as a little Asian guy who sleeps in everyday of the week'.  
Laughing at her thought of a proud wet Griffin watching her gurgle in the water she snuck a peek inside the tiny refrigerator that was literally only filled with a few beer bottles, pack of leftover Chinese food and some mysterious blue fungi at the back.  
Glancing around for a microwave she found none and guessed he was odd enough to eat it cold, who ate **cold** Chinese food?

* * *

"I thought you said you had it handled?" Alan grumbled from his pouting position on the floor.

"I did" Derek answered back calmly, popping the lid off his beer and taking long strides around the room to pace.

"Then why don't you know where she is!?"

"Cause the guy took off with her somewhere. Listen we'll find 'em eventually, while we wait go get Carter so we can put in some training before I ditch you three losers"

"You're still planning on leaving after three days?" Alan couldn't help but voice his shock; he had assumed that the extremely short and violent man had somehow grown a little attachment to them. He was after all watching May and keeping her safe, or at least was.

Snorting Derek turned to look at him with a sceptical brow, "It was three days wasn't it... Look she won't be hard to find, I'm sure their jump scar is still fresh so just chase it down. If not I'm almost positive she'll come back or go to Carter's"

Rubbing his face Alan shook his head once more, "She might have already gone to Carter's..."

"There you have it, now get out and go find your little friend. Quickly please"

"You used please" Alan laughed mockingly as he stood up to jump away.

"Only **once**" Derek firmly pressed, staring darkly as Alan vanished in thin air leaving behind a slight gust of wind that startled a few loose pages.

Rubbing his brow Alan landed with both feet firmly on the ground, his eyes taking more than cautious looks around.  
His nerves were on high alert ever since he had felt those bolts of electricity leap throughout his whole system.  
It haunted his thoughts, the scenes playing before his eyes whenever he blinked.  
It had happened so fast he wasn't sure he remembered all the details but he did know that he had almost given up, had begged for death to come and surrendered his self until the mysterious woman saved his life.

Had she been a Paladin too? She looked like one, but why would a Paladin let him go?

Question after question and none of them had any answers, or at least none had any helpful answers.  
Alan was simply left to digest was happened slowly in his mind, letting it devour until he couldn't take anymore and focus on everything else.  
He hadn't the time to remember completely where Carter's little bunker was but he knew there would be some sort of sign of him on the underground trains.  
People paid no mind to him as he passed them on the street; head hanging low with shoulders hunched high.  
He wasn't a well built guy, although the muscles in his arms were fit enough to get him by in most situations.  
He certainly didn't intimidate well either, often floundering there in confusion while others took care of the damage.  
In fact he wasn't sure he ever held his own, sure he could keep a good hand to hand with Derek or Carter but that was easier, they were somewhat predictable.  
Paladins unfortunately were not, no matter how much he wished they were they just weren't.  
They were complex idiotic crazed people with a desire to hunt down jumpers everywhere until none were left standing.  
Their motives were the easy part to figure out, Alan realised as he passed a strange couple that eyed him carefully.  
He could feel their gaze burning into his back and found even when he turned around they were never ceasing this.  
The woman looked young, probably just turned twenty with long dark brown hair and pretty doe eyes.  
The male beside her was quite tall, looking the exact height of Alan if not an inch more.  
His brown hair was cut short, a look that reminded the young jumper of his father who believed crew cuts were the next generation.  
Continuously jerking his head around to look at them Alan noticed they were trailing him, maybe not too close but still keeping a good distance to almost catch him.  
A hint of fear washed into his brain, urging him to run or jump or do something that could save him from their eyes.

Were they paladins? Were they coming to kill him after finding out he escaped? Had he led them to Derek? Was Derek dead? Had he just killed his companions? Is that why they freed him?

Suddenly clutching at his short black hair Alan let out a wail of sadness and jumped as fast as he could, not caring if anyone saw him or if he had just done the dumbest move of his life.  
The feeling of his skin on fire was the only thing in his mind, aching him to the very core as he fought off whatever he could remember of the previous hours.  
What had he done to deserve this? Where was May?

_--Sorry if there are spelling mistakes anywhere in this, I hope there isn't but if so let me know!! I'd love reviews too :)--_


	14. David Rice

**Disclaimer:** Obvious by now what I own and don't, right?

**Please read this:** I'm sorry I haven't updated, October is always a really busy month for me. I must let you know, I'm updating this today since my English class was canceled and on the 23rd I'm leaving to a Cobra Starship concert, then to a friends house for the night. So I won't be able to update then.  
Also after this chapter I'll be focusing more on Griffin and May, and **please** let me know if I end up making him OOC at any time, it bothers me when that happens.  
**Also, I will be changing this story into the Jumper category now that they've made one, I'll be doing that as soon as I get home from my driving lesson. I don't know if that messes any links or whatever up, but there we are, I gave you a heads up :)**

* * *

His body was twitching at every single second and his mind felt like he was in an outer body experience.  
The couple had come after him; they somehow followed through his jump scar and were now trying to get close enough to calm him down.

_Did that mean they were jumpers too?_

Falling onto his back Alan shielded his face, rolling into a ball as if he was going to be kicked or beaten with something hard and metal.  
What he received certainly wasn't expected as a soft hand lay against his cheek and stroked his hair away from his eyes.

"We're not going to hurt you" The female whispered to the terrified jumper.

Jerking suddenly he swung a hand out to strike her away, he didn't believe it, they **would** hurt him.  
Expecting his hand to hit skin he allowed his body to roll with his falling arm, letting the wind rush past his fingers as it connected with nothing but the floor.  
Brown eyes focused rather quickly in case an attack was going to be placed but all they found was the male protectively holding her away from him, giving a stern glare his way.

"How did you escape from the paladins?" The male's voice was strong and firm as he spoke down to the still cowering Alan.

"I don't know!" Alan shouted getting to his feet, fists tightened at his sides as he wavered unsteadily.

Not accepting the answer he shook his head and glanced down at the brunette beside him, "A paladin let you free, didn't they?"

Cupping his hands over his ears Alan shook his head, why was it his brain was slowing down?

"Are you alright?" The girl asked nervously, stepping away from her companion to check.

A sudden ringing filled his ears as he shook his head about, "My head hurts... who are you two?"

"My name is Millie, that --" Her introductions were cut short suddenly as the jump scar they had all tumbled through previously began rippling wildly.

Alan looked at it with a look of pure astonishment, he had only seen a jump scar do that twice in his life and each time it never meant anything good.

"We've got to go!" The male shouted quickly and grabbed the Millie girl around the waist.

"There's no where left to go" Alan whimpered as he backed a few more steps away, awaiting the paladins that were sure to follow.

"She used you to find me" The male suddenly whispered to himself, grabbing Alan's wrist to force him backwards in a jump.  
He had never really jumped more than one person before, but it wasn't much of a challenge from teleporting a large room.  
His back hit the wall of a building as he struggled to release his wrist from the other mans grasp, it was situations like this that made Alan hate his life.

"They're coming David!" Millie screamed suddenly from his right, grabbing both men and running to get behind some sort of cover.

"Where did you jump us?" Alan shouted as he was forced to move.

"Park in Chicago" was the answer he received before all fell silent except for a few chattering children playing on a jungle gym.

"We saw you escape the paladins." Millie spoke up behind Alan, still directing them wherever she could.

"How?" Alan inquired, tilting his head to duck away from a few low tree branches.

"I tracked someone there, by the time we got into your room you had jumped so we tagged after" The male who Alan was guessing called himself David replied.

"Who were you tracking?" Alan asked quickly, making a move to look over his shoulder when he heard a few children scream and parents shout for their child's safety.

"My mother," David answered sadly, "We need to jump, they're getting too close"

* * *

"I'm so tired" May sighed heavily as she flopped down to the floor.

"You haven't done anything" Griffin growled over his play station controller.

Rolling her eyes May leaned her head back on the couch's arm, looking up at the cracked ceiling, "Can't believe Carter wasn't there..."

"Should've just waited," he shrugged, "Why didn't you?"

"Safer with you?" She grinned impishly at him and watched as his blue eyes flickered to a darker shade.

The television screen beeped a game over Griffin threw the controller away from his hands and turned on the girl, "Get up, I did some searches, I'm pretty sure one of your little friends is somewhere in Chicago"

"Chicago? Who would go to Chicago?" May mumbled to herself in thought as Griffin stalked around the room picking up things.

"Don't know, just know they had some paladins on their tail and weren't smart enough to lose 'em"

"Then let's go!" May eagerly jumped up.

Snorting Griffin picked up his tossed backpack and slung it over his shoulder, jerking his head to the side as he jumped forward and waited a few seconds for her to land a little behind him.  
Cars weren't too packed as they walked on the sidewalk, making sure to keep a careful watch out for May's companions or paladins.  
His blue eyes were narrowed a little as his shoulders slumped down, hands buried in his pockets as he cast suspicious looks at passing pedestrians.  
May followed his stride efficiently, every now and then taking wide strides to meet his pace but otherwise doing okay.  
The two carried on for a few more blocks until Griffin vanished in another jump unexpectedly.  
Looking a little confused May followed the left behind jump scar and landed gracefully upon the roof of a moving truck parked besides a huge building.  
Glancing around her companion was no were in sight until a small gust of wind and the blink of an eye brought him face to face with her.

"I'm on a real tight schedule, so if possible, you mind going a little faster?"

"Thought we were on nice terms?" May mocked when he used a sarcastic and rude voice.

Snorting he turned away from her again and pointed to a door up a few flights of stairs, "Could be in there, jump scar brought me here, so go ahead"

"Without you?"

If a single person could portray all their sarcasm through a facial expression, Griffin would be the master of this as his brows knitted together and mouth quirked up in a slight mocking smirk, "You don't get out much, do you?"

"Let's just find them already!"

* * *

"David look out!" Millie screamed frantically as the Asian jumper blocked her view.

"Why did he bring us here? There's just more paladins than there were before!" Alan shouted at no one in particular, eyes wide as they strained on running paladins.

"There shouldn't be any! This is where we were hiding out" the female admitted from behind him, grabbing his shoulder as he suddenly jumped them both away from a wire of electricity.

Panicky Alan gently pushed Millie behind a computer desk that fit against the wall and turned around to see a paladin dressed in a tan shirt, strapped with a belt over his shoulder.  
His vision with not much concentration was fuzzy and desperately sucked at the colors that twisted to make the floor.  
He could make out the man as he crouched down and levelled that awful weapon for attack.

"I never wanted to fight! I never wanted to be in this war!" Alan cried as he clenched his fists and destined himself for the oncoming battle.  
It seemed there was no longer a place to run or hide, if he wanted out safely he would have to get rid of this paladin first.

Resigned with what he had to do Alan took it at a run, jumping out of the way just as the claws pounced at him.  
His fist connected easily with the side of the man's face and stung bitterly when he pulled back to swing a foot into his stomach.  
Caught off guard the paladin rolled away and brought his arms up in defence before taking a swing with a small hand knife and successfully cutting into already pained skin.  
From one fight to another Alan brought his foot down to the paladin's neck, kicking it harshly to deliver a whiplash effect.

"David!" Millie screamed again from behind him and with no more thought Alan ran as fast as he could to the woman to get her out.

His hands clasped hers as he brought her up in his arms and got them out, his hair rustling gently against his face as their bodies' teleported in a struggle to a new destination.

"I can't fight them, there's too many. He better get out of there now" Alan whispered to her as they watched in silent awe as the one and only David Rice jumped from place to place to avoid each shot and advance of their enemies.

"David can do it," Millie answered back sternly, "He'll be okay"

For some reason he almost believed her too but that moment didn't last long as the empty thoughts began eating away at him once again, "I need to find my friend"


	15. When You Stray

Disclaimer: By now it should be obvious what I do and do not own, right? :)

Sorry it took so long to update, school, birthdays, parties, concert. Been busy.  
**Please review, they get updates faster and make me smile. I want to make sure I have Griffin in character too! :)**

* * *

May glanced back over her shoulder when she heard the metal grate move, eyes darting about cautiously as Griffin continued ahead of her.  
He acted like he owned the place, hands in his pockets and posture emanating an 'I-don't-care' attitude.  
May couldn't help but wish she could be like Griffin but shook the thought off when she remembered he was a guy just looking to get rid of her the first chance he got; or at least that's what he kept telling her.  
Jumping to keep up with him the two walked in silence until the noises of a fight reached their ears.

"Alan!" May gasped when her first thoughts visited what could be happening to her friend inside.

"Are you suicidal?" Griffin snapped when she ran forward about to jump herself right into the fight below.

"Alan could be in trouble!" She tried to redeem herself, looking up at him with bright eyes.

Shaking his unruly hair out he pulled her back to his side and pointed down, "That ain't your friend, that's-"

His breath caught in his throat as he looked down to see a familiar face jumping about the room while fending off paladins.  
Grinding his teeth together he looked around for some sort of weapon, finding a crowbar leaning against the metal walls ready for his taking.  
Snatching up the weapon Griffin turned to the young female and ordered her to stay put before jumping onto the back of a fighting paladin, striking his crowbar hard across the back of the skull.  
He dropped like lead and within a blink Griffin was moving onto the next paladin who had become aware of his presence at the fall of his comrade.  
May watched from above, crouched low and peeking out from behind the railings as Griffin furiously attacked at the paladins alongside a stranger she didn't know.  
The fight ended a few minutes later as Griffin threw his last paladin onto the floor from above and turned around to face the familiar jumper.  
Still wielding the crowbar he swung it up over his shoulder and stared icily upon the light haired brunette male who looked a little surprised to see him.

"Griffin?" He cautiously asked, hesitating to take a step anywhere.

Glaring Griffin began to walk towards him menacingly, "David, David, David. You know, I heard about what you did with Roland; let him go 'eh?"

"If I killed him it wouldn't have stopped the other paladins from hunting us all down!" David fired back.

"News flash, they're still hunting us! You jumping him to a damn cave didn't do much good!"

"And how do you know?" David countered, now sucking up the courage to move around the room and away from the angry British man.

"You not notice those paladins beating your ass?" Griffin chuckled light heartedly and looked away to catch a glance at May who suddenly jumped to his side.

"Sorry to break up this fest but have you seen tall skinny little Asian guy?" She asked David directly.

Nodding plainly his face suddenly ripped out into shock and fright, spinning around screaming for someone called 'Millie'.  
"Lost your girlfriend again? Not very good at keeping track are you?" Griffin teased.

"Wait you've seen Alan, where is he?" May was quickly in David's way, hands pressing his shoulders as he continued to scream for the missing person.

Glancing down at the much shorter woman David sighed heavily, "Millie must be with him then"

"Oh good, you go with David. There I dropped you off, my job's done"

Spinning around May frowned at the suddenly retreating back of the British jumper, "Griffin, you can't leave me here!"

"Watch me" He answered while teleporting away with a bounced step.

Looking sideways at David she let out a sigh, "Please, if you see Alan tell him I'm looking for him and that I'm safe"

"You're going after Griffin?" he asked her with a curious face.

Nodding mutely May took off after the slowly fading jump scar, landing in a seat on some underground subway station.  
Glancing around she spotted Griffin a few feet ahead, getting ready to climb aboard some train, shifting in his leather jacket as he moved.  
Breaking into a run she managed to squeeze through the doors before it was too late and move over to the red metal seats, sliding beside him in silence as he stared firmly ahead.  
As the train jostled and began moving forward May finally turned to look at his profile, spotting a small scrape on his cheek from the fight.  
His hair was tousled in every direction and his blue eyes set in a firm gaze at the back of an old woman's head.

"I left you there for a reason" He muttered when she shifted noisily by his side.

"Oh what reason is that? To throw me off on someone else?"

"Sounds about right," He shrugged her off before leaning forward and tugging a strand of the old ladies hair which in turn caused her to shriek, "That's real? Really?"

"Griffin!" May scolded when the woman snapped around ready to beat whoever touched her with her overly large handbag, "I am so sorry ma'am. He didn't mean to, he thought he saw a bug..."

Scoffing Griffin snapped his fingers and leaned back into the seat to stare heatedly out the glass window, "I told you to stay with that retarded didn't I? He'd get you back to your friends and out of my hair"

Biting down on her bottom lip May reached playfully over and ruffled his hair before he painfully smacked her hands away, "You think I'd be safe going with him?"

"Don't touch my hair, if you're going to stalk me so much you better keep your hands to yourself or you won't have any anymore"

Rubbing her prickling hand May bit a little harder down on her lips, pressing them together as she focused on the feel of his soft hair through her fingers that had lasted only a second.  
The train came to a stop a minute later letting people off and a few back on for the next station.  
Chancing a glance at Griffin to see if they were to get off as well May was awarded with his bright blue eyes staring intently at her.  
A smirk crawled upon his lips when she again reached forward and tousled his already messy and winded hair.  
Shaking his hair out Griffin suddenly grasped her hand and bent it slightly backwards; giving her the same smirk as she shrieked quietly and struggled to pull her hand backwards.  
When free May felt the sting in her wrist and looked down at the marks his finger prints left on her bare skin.  
Looking startled May edged away from him and nursed her wrist as he grinned triumphantly out the window once more.  
Silence settled over the two until the train lurched in another stop and Griffin waved her up, leading them outside and a safe distance from watchful eyes before jumping somewhere new.  
May had never actually been to Shanghai, China until now but she found the sights beautiful and different from her regular routine.

"He would've taken you straight to your friend, why follow after me?" Griffin spoke up as they walked down the streets and towards some cab company.

May shrugged her reply, choosing not to answer him directly as she could still feel the sore in her wrist from his attack earlier.  
Chuckling Griffin opened the building door and moved inside, letting the door hit her as it closed.  
Jerking around May scowled at it before hurrying after him again as he climbed stairs to the next level.

"You know as glad as I am that you've finally shut up I would like an answer" He teasingly asked while refusing to look back at her.

Narrowing her hazel eyes May again shrugged her shoulders and clenched her fists.  
She had only gone after him for the attachment and thinking to her reasons she felt like a parasite that had clung onto him in survival instincts.  
But her survival instincts had been right, she wasn't dead yet.


	16. Over the Rainbow

Disclaimer: I've posted enough of these to get the point across, right?

Sorry its taken me awhile to update been stuck with homework, trips to the ER, had my great uncle Roy's funeral, just a bunch of other fun stuff. note; sarcasm.  
**Please review, makes me happy inside and helps me update more.** Oooh and Christmas is coming soon, 'eh? Happy Early Holiday's everyone.

* * *

Continuing ignoring her fellow jumper for the past twenty minutes May exited the cab they had taken to some apartment building and began walking up the front steps with Griffin behind her.

"When we get inside you wait down in the lobby" Griffin ordered as he swung the door open for the two of them.

Shaking her head May stalked over to the elevator and pushed the button, only having seconds thoughts of being stuck with him in an in-closed space a second later when they opened.  
Sighing Griffin pressed the button for the fifth floor and stuck his hands back in his pockets, looking as apathetic as ever as he rocked back and forth to the elevator music.

Turning to face him suddenly May glared at him as hard as she could and raised her voice, "What exactly do you think you're doing anyway?"

Chuckling Griffin gave her a playful smile and brushed at his hair, "You're not still sore about the hand are you?"

"Damn right I am" May muttered as she turned away from him to look at her reflection in the elevator mirrors.

"I left some things behind I need to pick up," he answered her question finally after the silence, all teasing tones lost from his voice.

Looking up at the ceiling May flinched lightly when the elevator squeaked against metal before opening its doors.

"Come on already, I'm not waiting forever" Griffin snapped when he was already halfway down the hallway with no sign of the female.

Catching up to him hastily May watched as he took out a key card and swiped it through, "How long have you rented this place?"

Pushing open the door Griffin took a quick glance at her before answering briefly, "Only a year"

Nodding she followed him inside and took a look around at the lightly furnished home that looked as if a sophisticated rich kid had lived there a month previous before grabbing half his belongings and taking off.

"Why live in your cave then when you have this place?"

"Lair," Griffin corrected while pulling out drawer after drawer and riffling through its contents, "And it's safer when there's no records they can trace. If you're in plain sight entering a place over and over again you're just asking to be killed"

"So you got more than one place?" May asked curiously as she picked up a useless car magazine and started flipping through the pages.

"Pretty much" He answered quickly and muttered an 'ah-ha' once he found a set of keys and a case of small metal capsules that reminded May of fireflies.

"What are those?" She asked curiously.

"Trackers," he answered again while moving around the room, "They'll lead me straight to Roland. If they sent that many after David then he can't be that far behind"

"Who exactly was that David guy anyway? How did you two know each other?"

"You ask too many questions, I liked it better when you were ignoring me" He huffed and grabbed a duffle bag from under a couch to begin stuffing with wires and journals.

Sinking down onto the bed May turned her head to the left to stare out at a wide window that overlooked the busy street.  
It was pretty easy to tell why Griffin must have chosen this apartment as he would have a better chance at spotting paladins and escape than anywhere else, he could see everyone that entered and left the building without appearing to be paranoid.  
_'Not that Griffin's paranoid at all of course'_ May snorted at her thought, noticing Griffin's head jerk up in response.

"So you're planning to track them back to Roland?" She asked casually.

Grunting his reply Griffin jerked up to his full height and stood over her, his shadow casting down onto the bed as he leaned forward.

"Thought it obvious, now let's go"

Quirking an eyebrow May jumped after him when he vanished, landing with a thump back at the old building they had left only a little while ago, "Why are we back here?"

Shooting her a look Griffin lifted a hand loosely to point at the quickly opening door, "Either fight or stay out of the way"

"Fight?" She gulped now realising the opening door was caused by a large well toned male who looked like he could crush a brick with his teeth.

"Look who it is, little Griffin" the man clucked his tongue and began distending the stairs.

"Do I know you?" Griffin mused as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"Awe, I'm hurt" he chuckled from above as he continued closing the distance.

May staring at the large man felt the lump begin to grow in her throat, pounding her pulse as she knew there would be no way she could even land a punch on a man his size.

"Where'd David?" She asked, her voice filled with uncertainty as Griffin waited patiently for the oncoming paladin.

Shrugging his shoulder Griffin pressed his hands into fists and began running at the man, screaming his lungs out for his tiny frame.

"You know, I would make a comment about that but I'm sure your busy" May called out to him as she jumped far enough away to hide behind a pillar.

She knew hiding from the fight while Griffin did all the work would surely lower her likeable points with him but she had only sparred with Alan, Derek and Carter.  
Alan never really sent proper hits her way, Carter could hardly punch a girl and Derek just shot strike after strike but always stopped when she asked.  
How was she to properly fight a large bouldering man when he had no intention of stopping once he started?  
Hanging her head May glanced to the side along the wall to see the familiar form of David squished between the wall and a large crate.  
He seemed to either be stuck or hiding, May guessed the latter as he wasn't struggling too much and could easily jump his way out.

"David?" She called over to him, watching his eyes bounce over to hers.

His face screamed his confusion as his brows knitted together; in fact he looked like he might explode from the sheer possibility of seeing her again.  
Instead of gracing her with a response, once he overcame his shock however he lifted a finger to his lips to quiet her and pointed to the other paladins that had begun scouring about.  
He was **definitely** hiding.

"What about Griffin?" She hissed to him as she realised the British jumper would be taking on all the men by himself.

David seemed to soften up as the words came from her mouth but quickly shook his head once more, finally voicing his thoughts to her, "He can handle it, if you go anywhere they'll just go through the jump scars. It's not safe to move"

Nodding May leaned her head back against the pillar jus as the ground shook under her feet and the sudden rubble flew out an inch above her head.  
Her reaction was to duck instantly as she realised Griffin had been thrown at her hiding spot and successfully made a rather large crack in the cement.  
Wincing she spun out to find him coughing painfully and holding at his rib cage while bent over on the floor, his hair covered in dust.

"Griffin?" She felt unsettled as he weakly got back to his feet by jumping out of range.

"Awe, did you get a little girlfriend?" The large paladin teased.

Ignoring the taunts Griffin threw himself forward again to punch the paladin hard in the jaw before jumping and kicking the base of his spine to bring him down to the ground quickly.  
Leaning down Griffin grabbed the collar of his enemy's shirt and slide his thumb underneath it, hauling him up to throw him at the wall in another jump.  
When he was finally sure the man was out cold he turned back to face May and David, a sour look present.

"Gee thanks for the help" He tossed out sarcastically.

"You didn't ask for it," David retorted as he slipped out from his hiding place, "I know where Millie and your friend are, if we hurry they won't be able to follow us"

Nodding May's face lit up but she made sure to watch Griffin's unreadable expression, "Your coming right?"

"Nope, follow along after Davey, he'll get you there"

"Griffin, I had to do it, you would've killed her" David suddenly spoke up, walking towards Griffin with a set jaw.

"And those bloody paladins too if you hadn't gotten in the way!" Griffin yelled back, fury crossing his features in red.

"Blowing them up wasn't the answer!" David responded quickly, his passive features leading May to believe he had this conversation in his head many times before now.

"Oh and what was? Giving them a head start to kill us was?"

Narrowing his light blue eyes David prepared to jump away, "There are other ways to stop paladins, and there are other ways to save the people we care about"

May watched as David vanished, the air swirling about them as his jump scar appeared, glittering there in mid air.

"What if we don't find Alan?"

"Not my problem" Griffin answered back as he turned away from her.

Nodding her head and steeling her nerves May left without another look back through David's jump scar, appearing in an unfamiliar place but spotting the moving jumper quick enough.  
His head turned to face her once she appeared, eyes filled with confusion as she closed the distance.

"Thought you would stay with Griffin" he mused.

Shaking her head out May began walking in stride with him, "I've put off finding my friend long enough"

Turning a corner outside a rather large school building May's eyes fell upon every single stretch of snowy grass that graced her eyes.

"A school? Why are we at a school?" she asked him.

"Millie would hide somewhere around here, I'm sure your friend would have taken her somehow" he answered back as he began walking towards bleachers.

"So who is this Millie girl?" asked May, choosing to make conversation rather than silence.

"My girlfriend," David's eyes twinkled pleasantly as he reminisced, "She's all I have left"

Nodding May understood exactly what he was getting at, "Alan is all I have left too. I'm sure they'll be safe together"

"He got caught by paladins before we found him," David suddenly told her and waited for her reaction.

Stopping cold in her tracks May felt her legs wobble slightly, "What are you talking about?"

David bent down a little to see if they were hiding under the stands, "Millie and I were tracking a paladin, she caught him. We couldn't exactly help but it turns out we didn't need to, he just got let free"

"Let free?" May mocked now moving once more.

"Yeah, you have any idea why they'd let him go?" his eyebrows rose curiously, but something in his eyes told her he knew more information.

"They wouldn't" was her immediate response.

Spotting a shed further away May jumped towards it, fiddling her fingers around the freezing cold lock as she struggled to pry it off.  
Catching onto her idea David ran over as well to help her, even giving the door a few kicks when the lock wouldn't budge.

"Alan? Are you in there?" May yelled at the door, listening closely for any noise.


	17. May In Wonderland

**Disclaimer:** Do not own, nor do I claim to. Only own my own OC's. :)

Really sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've put myself on Hiatus of friends because of too many fights. I've also been overloaded on homework and stress, my oh my have I needed a break! But! Alas! I have found my way back from space with a new update. Working on the next one, so after I finish another paper of mine I'll post it.

Please review, helps me update a lot more and THANK YOU EVERYONE who has favorited this story and put it on alerts. That means tons and if you didn't I might not of been able to continue on till a lot longer than this!!! :D

_I've also figured out the ending to this story finally, which I'm hoping won't change as I continue along. There's hints towards it if anyone notices. :)  
I'll be sad once it's finished, although I have another story lined up._  


* * *

David jostled the doors for a few minutes before squinting into the small gap he made, jumping with a light gust of wind inside.  
Following is left behind scar May landed beside him and took in her surroundings.  
It was just a plain gym shed, basket balls, footballs, soccer balls and other equipments strung about.

"Millie?" David called out but heard no response.

"This is stupid! Where are they!?" May grunted unhappily and began moving things around.

A sudden thud sounded from behind them and water washed its way across the wood floor to reach their feet.  
Spinning around May felt her heart lift as she saw her best friend, sprawled out on the ground with a brunette girl beside him.

"ALAN!!" She cried and quickly ran to his side.

Reacting quickly Alan proceeded to wrap is arms around her, grinning even when her hair stuck to his face.

"I'm going to handcuff you to me or something. We've been everywhere!"

"David!" The female shouted and ran over to join the relieved jumper who quickly tugged her close.

"You didn't have any trouble getting here, did you?" He whispered quietly, making sure the other two wouldn't over hear.

Smiling faintly Millie shook her head and looked back at Alan, "We managed to get out just fine. Thank you Alan"

Nodding Alan tried twisting his lips up into a smile but faltered with a wince, "May, we need to find a place to hide. We have to lay low"

Blinking May stepped back from her friend and looked around her, "Is that what its coming down to Alan? We're all just going to let the paladins take over. Pick us off one by one?"

"That won't happen. There's a way to stop them but in the mean time, it might be best if you two hide. Same with you Millie" David interjected into their conversation.

Fingers prickly May turned her head away, "I'm not running away. We have to stop them. We decided this Alan! That's why we found Carter and Derek! That can't of been all for nothing!?"

"It's not. We learned how to protect ourselves and get away when we need to. Derek was right you know, we just aren't the fighting type May"

Frowning May crossed her arms protectively, "I'm not letting them walk all over us. I'm going to visit Derek and Carter again where we can all resume training then we can go out and stop as many paladins as we can"

"Leave the paladins to Derek. Carter never wanted in this war either, why can't we just... May, why are we fighting over this?" Alan sighed heavily and ran a hand through his black short hair.

"I'm tired of hiding Alan; I just want them to go away"

"Then come with us" Millie piped up, looking back and forth.

"Millie! That's probably not the best idea" David drifted off, urging his girlfriend to stay silent.

"Wait a second!" May suddenly piqued, "You know a lot about Griffin right?"

"Not a lot," David started hesitantly, "Were not on... the best of terms"

Nodding May waved her hands dramatically, "Griffin was planning on tracking paladins to get to Roland! We can do it both ways, Alan, we can hide but still stop paladins"

"I don't think Griffin wants any help" David uselessly announced but noticed quickly the hazel eyed female was now ignoring everyone's protests.

"You've certainly gotten chummy with this Griffin fellow" Alan grunted.

Ignoring him May continued on, "David you know Griffin enough to probably figure out where he's gone and can help us convince him to let us help"

"Do you not remember him wanting to kill me?" David mused.

"I know you can convince him, I know you can!"

* * *

"Are you asking for a death wish?" Griffin announced suddenly from somewhere above them.

"Told you this was a dumb idea" Alan grumbled as he stared up into the sun to see the British jumper leaning over a railing, swinging a bat in his right hand.

Stepping forward May jumped up to where he was, grinning from ear to ear to see the familiar face, "We have a tiny request"

"No" He answered firmly and jumped down to the silent David and Millie.

"They actually made some sense Griffin.... like marvel team ups"

"I'm gettin' sick of marvel team ups" He rolled his blue eyes.

"It'll be easier to track paladins if there are more of us doing the job," David continued reluctantly, "faster than you doing it by yourself"

Rounding on May his blue eyes narrowed as if he were looking at a paladin, "Been sharing my plans, have we?"

"It's a good idea, Griffin!" David tried again.

"Should have dumped you in the ocean when I had the chance" Griffin scoffed and left everyone to wonder with who he was actually referring to.

"And so this must be your long lost friend, huh?" He continued when he caught eyes with Alan.

Glaring Alan puffed up his chest although it only served to make him look like he was about to puke.  
May returned in a quick jump to her friend's side, patting his shoulder silently when he fisted is hands.  
It was obvious to her that Alan didn't like Griffin, and extremely obvious to everyone else that Griffin didn't like any of them.

"Let us help you" David tried once more, looking to Millie for support as she held onto his hand for support.  
She hadn't spoken much after returning to him but he felt the comfort ooze from her to keep him feeling secure.

"Did you hit your head?" Griffin scoffed.

"Stop being so damn stupid, you know we can help! Just let us!" Alan snapped, arms flying into the air as he breathed heavily from the exertion.

Glaring back Griffin looked at them all sternly for a moment before actually considering his options.  
He scratched at his untameable hair and darted his blue eyes about the room, shuffling back and forth on his feet before looking sternly at them all.

"You'd follow by my rules?"

At their nod he continued, "No, 'oh we can't blow them up', and sticking me in a fucking electrical tower, again?"

David looked away almost sheepishly before nodding, May and Alan giving him wide eyed looks.

"You left him in an electrical tower?" Alan half but yelled.

"It was the only way" David cut back, eyeing Griffin who seemed to be waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Paladins could have gotten him and killed him" May defended and watched as David shook his head.

"David did what he had to do! Now can we all just agree to help each other out?" Millie sighed heavily, her arms hanging down to her sides like bricks.

"If you help, you play by my rules, no questions asked" Griffin finalised.

Everyone silently agreed once more before David found the voice to speak once more, "Why exactly are you here?"

"Paladins" Griffin answered monotonously.

And paladins it was for the moment he finished his sentence two came bursting through the doors, eyes wide as they stared ahead at the five supposed jumpers.  
Cracking his knuckles Griffin ran into a jump and began a fight between the two leather clad men, grabbing each wrist that came at his face to twist around behind their backs.  
He skilfully moved away from them, dodging each throw of a fist by using whichever free paladin he grabbed first.  
Alan almost yelled out for Griffin to duck a few times when he spotted one withdrawing their electric devices but stopped when Griffin had both men in heaps on the floor and the metal device swinging lazily in his hand.

"Hmmm, nifty gadget..." he mumbled to himself as the end opened up, spurting electricity in wires to the ground at his feet.

Digging his hand into his leather jacket's pocket he glanced up at the gaping faces, "Make yourself useful, tie them up!"

"With what?" Millie answered him as everyone else remained too stunned to speak.

"Have to do everything myself" May heard him growl.

"You're going to put trackers on them now? Won't they just wake up, find them, take them off and trap you?"

Wiggling is hand in the air Griffin stuffed three small electronic circular chips down one of the paladin's throats, rubbing at his throat to help him swallow in his unconscious state.

"Doubt they're getting these off 'em" He cackled in reply.

"What if... that's fucking nasty," Alan shook his head at the thoughts that entered his mind, turning away to face David and Millie, "Where do we all hide?"

"Excuse me?" Griffin called over to them.

"Where do we all hide?" Alan repeated now towards the British man.

"That's funny; you make it sound like I'm involved in your hiding"

"You are," May told him firmly, "That's what helping requires"

Shaking her off Griffin finished planting the rest of the chips into the second paladin before slapping their faces awake, "Put on your best angry faces, children, we want 'em to think they're going to win before we take off"

"In other words, let them kick our asses?" May grinned childishly.

"I have mentioned you've got freakish mood swings, right?"

"Just wake them up" She rolled her eyes and looked to Millie who was shuffling her feet nervously, staring ahead at the doors the paladins had burst through previously.

"Something wrong Millie?" David asked her finally.

"I have this... awful feeling..."

"Its okay" He cooed in her ear, brushing her brown bangs away from her face.

Smiling up at him passionately Millie grabbed his hands and entwined their fingers to rub his hand against her cheek.  
May looked away from the couple and smiled at her friend, squeezing is shoulder before a sudden shot of an electrical wire shot out to grasp her outstretched arm.  
Her eyes felt like they were rolling into the back of her head as everyone took action, Alan leaping forward with his fist brought back to smash against the paladins face.  
Griffin had grabbed him by the back collar of his shirt, wrenching him sideways and onto the floor.  
Millie was screaming in fright, this doing nothing to comfort May as she hit the ground and began prying her fingers deep into the metal clasps that continuously sent bolts throughout her body.  
Screaming her head fell back and crashed into the floor, May had no pain tolerance and this had only furthered that.  
She had even given up learning to play the violin when she was younger because she couldn't stand the cramps that stuck in her finger joints.  
Alan was by her side again, aiding her in freeing herself from the rapid succession of electrical shocks.

"Its okay" Alan soothed a he realised how locked the clasp of metal was around his fragile friend.

Whimpering May curled into herself while desperately jamming her fingers between her skin and metal.

"Breathe May, just breathe. It'll be over soon, just breathe"

"Get her the hell out of here!" Griffin commanded once he saw the female shaking on the ground.

Alan pulled her into his arms then and jumped away, a thought of his home fresh in his mind.  
The couch was close by as he placed her upon the ripped surface.  
He hadn't visited his home after finding it destroyed and seeing the chaos in the room made is stomach lining curl.  
His hair blew suddenly as papers flew up into the air, the floor shaking as David, Millie and Griffin landed in the middle.

"It's still on her!?" Millie gaped when she saw the young woman wriggling helplessly.

"Smart" Griffin scoffed and walked over to May, wrenching her wrist up as he began tugging the metal apart.

"It's locked together! I can't get it off!"

"Get me a knife" Griffin commanded calmly, placing a hand on her forehead as she shook, "They fuckin' increased the voltage..."

Alan returned quickly with a small butter knife in his hand, eyes shaking in their sockets as he watched Griffin snatch it away.

"Fantastic, a dull knife" He mocked but went to work with prying the pieces apart, wincing lightly as the current hit his fingertips and danced around each nerve in his body.

May let out a sharp gasp of relief and rolled right off the couch when the electricity stopped.  
Her wrist throbbed painfully and when she looked down at it she could see the skin a deep purple colour.  
Looking up with heavy lidded eyes she stared at Griffin for a solid minute before he turned away to the destroyed kitchen, calling them all stupid on his way.

"May? Are you alright?" Alan whispered, stroking her hair as his own memories flashed back to the painful electrical shocks.

Unable to find her tongue, May nodded plainly and listened as Millie told everyone she was going to fetch tea.

"It looks like the paladins aren't planning to be as nice anymore" David muttered and sunk into the only cushion the couch held that wasn't ripped apart.

"They never were," Alan replied strongly, staring down at his friend with determination, "and neither are we"

"Good luck then," Griffin scoffed as he entered the room once more, "'Cause I expect you to track down Mary Rice"

"What!?" David snapped up to his feet, eyes looking more alive than Alan and May had ever seen them.

"David what's wrong?" Millie entered the room at the sound of his yell.

"You can't hunt down my mom!"

Glaring Griffin stepped up so he was eye level with David, "It's my rules and I didn't say hunt, I said track. Like he could hunt a paladin down"

"I'm right here!" Alan hissed as Griffin ignored him once more.

"If you go after her, she'll figure it out right off the bat," Griffin started, "How she gave birth to an idiot kid like you, I'll never know"

A deep frown settled its way on David's face, "How does tracking my mother help you?"

"None of your business, now do what I say. My rules, my game, now go play"


	18. Tired

Disclaimer: Don't own nor claim to. Only OC's.

A/N: I know this has truly been _forever_ but here it is now, only four days late. haha. :) Thanks everyone for the continued +alerts and +fav's, even through this semi-hiatus.  
I had to rewatch Jumper a few more times before I could finish this one, and I noticed something. Griffin (while a hot bad boy) is actually a really cute child huh? I mean, mentally he's never really grown past those years his parents were killed. This of course urged me to start an on-the-side story pertaining that exact pesonality trait to see just how deep I can get into his crazy head. :D

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Trap ******

Alan couldn't believe what he was doing as he crouched down low to the ground, staring around the corner with a tiny compact Millie had given him. His hair had been gelled back before Griffin had sent him on his way, firm in the decision that Alan was the one for the job. But he didn't feel ready for the job, not with the fear of being shocked again growing so deeply.  
Of course he had managed to get himself out of those situations without any help and he did manage to save the young Millie too, but even so Alan felt useless as a jumper. There were so many others that were greater than him: Griffin had more experience, Derek was stronger, Carter was stealthier, David had even been better at jumping than he. Hell even May was smarter and yet Alan was that Asian kid tagging along stupidly, just following orders and doing the things no one else really wanted to do.  
He was trying hard not to complain either, to keep his mouth shut and follow along with the rules this arrogant British jumper made. It was troubling and in all truths Alan wasn't sure there would be any other role for him to fill. He was experiencing his father's words all over again.  
Scooting forward more Alan did his best to see if the woman known as Mary Rice was leaving her house yet. He couldn't see the blonde women yet but he could see a young brunette female waiting by a van impatiently. She called for her mother and stomped her feet when she heard no response.  
Frustrated with waiting Alan moved closer so he would be able to catch Mary the minute he saw her instead of using the stealth attack Griffin planned out. He could see the younger female better now, nose scrunched up and hair falling into her face as she turned on her MP3 player and stuck the ear bud into her ear. Alan could spot the similarities of David in her face even though she was leaning forward and ignoring everything around her as she switched music.

"Sophie do you have everything?" The voice of Mary Rice suddenly called from the front door, her face appearing suddenly.

"Yea mom" Sophie rolled her eyes and caught a glimpse of Alan before he vanished.

Mary nodded and locked up the house, making her way down to the car that her daughter climbed into quickly. Alan watched quietly from afar, nervously wringing his hands together.

* * *

Griffin jumped and hid with catlike agility, vanishing before the occupants of the car spotted him. Following behind him quietly was May, observing at a much safer distance than the British Jumper. The two had decided to stick to Mary Rice and her daughter as Alan was left to throw apart their home. May didn't know what Alan was supposed to be looking for in that house, but she figured Alan must or he wouldn't have gone.  
The wind whipped around her tousled hair, the glimmer of light blonde, browns and blacks sorting into her vision at each batting eyelash. She was tired of staring after the Paladin, waiting for the car to come to a stop and the passengers to exit. Patience must not have been her strongest suit, May realised.

"Hurry up, yeah? Haven't got all day" Griffin spoke over his shoulder, waving her to his side.

May jumped quickly, taking note of the small movements his hair made from her disruption, "They stopping?"

Choosing not to answer verbally Griffin stuck a pointer finger in the direction of a slim female brunette exiting the car slowly. Her face was hidden by the car for the short period she spoke to her mother.

"A library? Woo, this'll be fun" May spoke sarcastically, vanishing from beside Griffin to the side of the large white building.

It took not even a minute for the small car to pull away from the curb and for Griffin to vanish along with it. May's feet moved rhythmically against the pavement as she took step after step to catch up to the vulnerable female. Being much closer it was now easier to distinguish her features: dark sunken eyes with a red ting (suggesting serious lack of sleep), a small nose and pale complexion. _She looks like David_, May mused with a sarcastic smile.  
Slipping inside the libraries thick doors, May fell back enough to tail the girl. She seemed about the same height as her, but she couldn't be sure. Turning quickly into a separate isle May ran her fingers gently over the spines of books, peeking between the cracks to watch the brunette move in mirror image to her. _Kind of resembles Millie too…  
_Stopping suddenly May felt her eyes begin to burn, finger tingling in anticipation upon a book's spine.

"Paladin's Handbook" May uttered to herself, unable to tear herself away.

_Why would a Paladin book be inside a library? Much less a handbook? Was it some sort of mistake?_

"Are you a Paladin?" A strong female voice spoke beside her, startling her to almost jump.

Trying to contain the 'startled deer' appearance, May turned to the female and almost choked on her spit. "Are you?"

The girls brown eyes darkened, her face displaying a fierce expression. May was sure if she wasn't in a library with her the girl would be about ready to kick her ass.

"What do you want with my mother?"

"Nothing" May answered honestly, for she didn't want anything with Mary Rice. Griffin did.

Dangerously closing the distance between them the unnamed girl spoke in a deadly whisper, making sure no one else could overhear, "I don't care who you are, but I'm not going to let you leave here"

Feeling a surge of cocky behaviour May leaned back into the girl, pressing her lips against her ear. "See if you can stop me"

Now if May were to look back upon this situation she would realise her mistake, hopefully before it was too late. Instead the girl had lunged forward with a strong right hook and fell from the air right beside her as May jumped their bodies. It was an instinct of being attacked, struck by her obliviousness that May ended up in the torn apart backyard of Alan's old home, fumbling to stand before the other female.  
Clenching her fists the words once previously yelled at her by Derek became blurred as she prepared for a fight. There was no way out of this now, she had jumped, and jumped the damn girl no less!

Griffin was going to **kill **her.

Settling with her consequences May took a run at the girl, delivering a punch to her jaw and quickly jumping behind her to strike her back. Unfortunately it seemed this girl knew better and had rolled away, panting and clutching at dead grass that lay between her fingers. Letting out a feral cry the girl leapt at May only to fall to the ground as May jumped out of harm's way.

"Just leave my mother alone! She's never done anything to you!" She screamed in frustration.

"Never done…?!" May quickly rounded on the girl. "Your mother has killed people! For nothing! Taken their families away, tortured them! Don't you act innocent, _Paladin_!"

The girl's mouth turned slack quickly, unable to form a retort.

"Don't you dare tell me your mother's never done anything to me: You don't know me"

"I know you're a jumper!"

May's heart sunk a little as she watched the girl stand, the words repeating over and over. As long as she had lived that was what May grew up as, a jumper. Not a human, but a jumper instead as if she was some form of different species. It made her wonder how Griffin grew, had he been treated worse?

"And that's enough to condemn me?"

"I want you to leave my mother alone!" She was certainly strong willed.

With a quick 'pop' May left the girl standing where she was to land in a pile of snow, quickly scrambling to her feet to run towards the pretty white secluded house.

"Alan! Alan!!" She screamed, tossing open the front door to search for her friend.

He appeared not a second too late for his friend to rush into his arms, looking a little teary eyed. "May, what's going on? You're supposed to be with Griffin!"

"She dropped her daughter off, so I went after her. But Alan I fucked up! I jumped the girl! Griffin's going to get killed!"

"You… what!?" Alan looked suddenly terrified once more, running to the front door to close it with a snap.

"I found this book about Paladins and she just… popped! Like appeared right there! And somehow she knew we were after her mother… Alan, I think we just stepped into a trap"

With her final words the door to Mary Rice's home was kicked in, slamming roughly against the opposing wall. The chill ran into the room mercilessly, the dark figures stepping forbiddingly inside.

"Paladins" Alan and May mouthed at the same time, breathless as realisation took over.


	19. Author's Note

Author's note:

I really have to apologise for how long this has taken and how long this little note might end up. Getting to it, I have unfortunately and regrettably lost all my documents for this story some many months ago and have been unable to retrieve them. Basically I've also let myself be lazy in trying to pick it back up.  
So this basically means that this story **will be updated** as soon as I can **settle down** to re-read it all, go over what I've posted (possibly edit as well) and then sit down to start writing it again.

I don't know how long this will take, which is why I am posting this author's note because I feel you all deserve to know why it won't be updated until forever and a day.

But **thank you all** from the bottom of my heart for all the favourites, subscribing and reviews because they mean so much to me and mean that I will definitely be writing this story when I settle down to it. On another note I have begun writing a few ficlets that will be in the categories for King Kong and another Jumper fiction and I'll get to posting those soon. So to anyone who has read thus far, thank you again so so so so so much and I adore you for reading this story. It **will** be updated one day!

(And again, sorry to whoever got excited of this being a possible update. I'll remedy/repay that eventually/soon!)

~ Sincerely, ClosetCase.


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